The Darkest Depths
by HoneyAlphaPie
Summary: Set after KH3. No secret ending. Sora arrives in the realm of darkness. Vanitas finds him in his misery and seeks to stop his pain from consuming him. Riku searches for him and tries to bring Sora home.
1. Chapter 1

_I wanted some weird Vanitas/Sora content to enjoy, So here is this fic :)_

_There are a lot of Questionable Sexual Scenes within this story, so please proceed with caution if you do not wish to not read explicit content!_

_I try to incorporate a lot of canon stuff when possible but I'm not 100% about every single detail within the story of KH, so I'm sorry if I get something wrong. This is just for fun! To try to tie up some loose ends, so please don't be upset with me. I am in no way a professional author, so please excuse my mistakes!_

_Also, Sora wears a cool gown later during a battle. Think of it like a sailor moon power up, where he gets a sweet costume. Boys in dresses are good! :3_

_Alright well anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this story ! !_

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Sora awoke in the Realm of Darkness.

He shivered and rubbed his hands on his shoulders. The silence was somehow comforting. He made his way to the waters edge and stared at the abyss.

"I guess this is my home now." He resigned. He took his shoes and socks off and stepped his feet into the water. It was cool to the touch but he didn't mind.

He looked out onto the horizon and felt his heart ache in his chest as he had memories of a time not too long ago where he was here before. He felt a tear fall down his cheek as he thought about that moment, and who he was with.

"Riku..."

He stepped further into the dark water as the memories started to become more painful. He submerged himself into his own agony.

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It was silent. The water carried his body in a suspended state. He was curled in fetal position as he drifted deeper into the abyss. His clothing had since disintegrated as he floated further into the darkness. The only proof he had ever even existed in the realm of light was the crown necklace around his neck.. The memories stabbed at his heart like knives as he struggled to remember, desperately not wanting to forget. His friends, his power.

He felt himself cry more tears and fell into a deep sleep.

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His mind was blank as he succumbed to the darkness in his heart. Sora floated further in the abyss. The pain of missing his friends eating away at him.

Oh how he missed them. He tried even to remember their names. His heart ached more in his chest, the pain starting to consume him. He wished that the pain would stop.

Suddenly, there was a presence near him. It felt familiar as it reached for him.

'Join with me,' its voice called.

'Join?' Sora questioned

'Join you heart with mine.' The voice said, 'Let me take the pain away.'

Sora wanted the pain gone. This voice felt warm to him, and so he welcomed it. He uncurled his body and allowed the presence into his heart.

He felt a brush of lips against his and then suddenly a blinding pleasure surged through his body. He made a small gasping sound at the feeling of the presence entering him. He arched his body, basking in it, and then, felt complete. He curled in on himself again with a small smile on his face as he continued to drift.

'Our hearts have touched. Now, I will always be with you.'

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Sora continued to drift. Days, Months, Years. He had no concept of time. Of how long he had been here. His memory was weak as he tried to recall, and then felt a stab of pain in his heart.

'Let me help you' the voice had said and started to take away his hurt. The blinding agony within Sora's heart. He cried as he tried to remember. The presence curled in around him, encompassing his body. Sora welcomed its warmth, feeling his heart sigh in relief.

'Let me take all the pain away,' it molded to Sora and pressed up against him. Sora moaned at the sensations and allowed the presence to take him completely.

Sora cried more tears as he struggled to remember, the pain of what he forgot chasing him, and the presence then took his lips into his and started to take away all his pain. Literally swallowing it. Sora moaned again feeling the pleasure peak out through the blinding pain.

The presence shushed him and continued to help him through the pain, soothing his cries. 'It will all be okay little one. I am with you.'

The pleasure started to pierce its way through the pain, and soon Sora could not feel any pain at all. He cried out as his body shook as everything came crashing down.

"Vanitas!"

He felt the presence flow back into his body and relaxed feeling at peace again. He curled back up and smiled softly.

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They drifted like that for awhile. Anytime Sora started to try to remember his past or his friends, Vanitas would show up from within his heart and help ease his pain.

He thought about his friends a lot. He wanted to remember their faces and what they sounded like. When he tried to recall everything came up fuzzy and soft and his heart ached. He felt tears fall down his face but he never opened his eyes. Permanently shut since he fell into the watery abyss.

Soon, Vanitas was there, surrounding him. Hushing him as he cried, his heart full of sorrow.

'Let me help you little one,' Vanitas whispered into his ear as he pushed into Sora, and kissed him deeply, swallowing his cries and sadness. Vanitas chased the flavor. It was intoxicating. Sora's cries were positively divine. He licked at his mouth and arched up into him.

Sora shook his head as he struggled on a memory. It was hazy but it was strong he could sense something important was within it because his heart started to burn and Sora cried out in despair.

Vanitas moaned and chased it. Devouring the emotion. He would take all Sora's pain. He pushed back into him and held him tightly, his thrusts becoming harder as he tried to make all Sora's pain fade away.

Sora cried out as the pleasure crested and he felt at peace again, the memory gone from him.

He curled in on himself again and felt a tear fun down his cheek as they sunk deeper into the abyss.

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Time seemed to go on. Sora's pain only seemed to grow with each passing moment. He felt memories burn within him and cried more tears as he tried to recall something, anything.

Vanitas appeared like always and frowned seeing Sora in distress. 'I'm here little one. Let me make it all better,' and he enveloped Sora's body once again.

Sora shook as this particular memory burned deep in his heart. It was of someone , he could tell that much, but that was all he could grasp as the pain was excruciating.

'Please!' Sora screamed in despair and agony and Vanitas molded his body against his.

Sora moaned brokenly when pleasure started to peak through the never ending pain. He reached up and grasped his crown necklace in his hand as Vanitas pushed into him repeatedly and cried harder. It was different this time. Something was happening. Sora's heart started to race as he shook with each of Vanitas's thrusts.

Vanitas swallowed everything Sora gave him. It was the sweetest nectar. His heart soared as his power grew within him. He pushed into Sora harder, wanting Sora to release his pain onto him. He chased it.

Sora's tears fell like raindrops down his face as he held on tightly to Vanitas' back. He arched up when the pleasure was too much and felt his heart twist suddenly and screamed.

"Riku!"

Sora opened his eyes, and they shined bright purple.

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Riku emerged in the Realm of Darkness, armed with his keyblade, and Mickey followed behind.

It had been nearly ten years since that faithful day, when Sora had saved everyone in the Keyblade Graveyard. Riku clenched his fist when he remembered it and walked further into the realm of darkness.

"We should be on the lookout Riku, anything could happen in the Realm of Darkness," Mickey reminded him as the made their way deeper into the realm.

They had came to the darkness for some answers. They were dealing with some issues in the realm of light and thought that maybe the darkness would somehow give them the key to finding a solution.

The walked farther into the world and Riku remembered the time him and Sora had been here all those years ago, it seemed like a life time ago. His heart ached in his chest as he thought about Sora.

Many of the keyblade wielders has since given up hope of Sora's return. It had been almost a decade since. They had all returned to their normal lives. At first they all had searched but after awhile and coming up empty handed every time, the group had started to loose hope.

Riku never once stopped believing. He knew Sora was out there, somewhere. He just had no idea how to find him. His heart ached in his chest again and he held his hand to it. He looked out into the water of the dark margin and frowned.

"Sora.." he whispered, and felt a twang in his heart. It hurt. He never had allowed himself to cry about it before, but suddenly, looking out onto the sea of the darkness, his emotions boiled over. As if something was calling to fell to his knees and sobbed.

"Riku! Are you alright?" Mickey said completely shocked at Riku's sudden change in demeanor. He had never seen Riku cry before.

Suddenly a roar from the waters made them both look up in shock. The tower of heartless was back!

"Riku watch out!" Mickey cried as they separated into their fighting stances. They fought the demon tower and struggled to whittle it down.

They struggled and panted for breath, the tower seemed to not be affected by their slashes.

"Mickey what do we do?" Riku called over the horde of heartless. Suddenly the tower rose high in the sky and shot through the air.

They watched as it wheeled back and took aim at them.

"Mickey!" Riku yelled and pushed him out of the way, before the demon tower swooped him up in its wave.

"Riku!" Mickey cried out and reached for him.

Riku struggled against the heartless horde squeezing his body. He took his keyblade and stabbed it into the tower, and it curled up in pain, releasing him. He quickly turned and slashed at it, yelling out in furry.

A figure was suddenly spit out from the tower, a dark glow surrounding them. The tower then fell back into the water to retreat.

Mickey stood and Riku armed his keyblade. "Who are you?" He questioned poised to fight.

The figure then came into view the darkness falling away from his body. It was a young man, in what looked to be a black gown of sorts, which wrapped around his neck and fell in front of his body like a wave, fabric just draping like liquid over his form. A silver crown sat at the throat of the fabric. His hair was long, but still held the familiar catlike tuffs at the top and Riku felt his heart twist.

"S-Sora?," he choked, disbelief in his eyes. Was it truly him? After all this time? Now of all times? And what was he even wearing?

The figure then opened his eyes and looked at him with piercing violet. Riku's heart wanted to burst from his chest, 'it was Sora!' his heart yelled and he started to approach him.

Sora through his hand out. "Stay back," he warned. His voice cold, and rough.

Riku stopped mid step.

"Sora? Is it really him?" Mickey asked from beside him, unsure.

Riku stared at him. He knew it was. He may look different but it was still Sora.

"Sora! please what happened to you?" He cried wanting answers. How was Sora in the realm of darkness? Was he here the whole time? Riku suddenly felt angry, if that was true, then they could have done something much sooner. Not ten years later.

Sora frowned. "You happened." He turned and stood on top of the water. "After saving you all, I woke up here, in my new home. I accepted the darkness and my fate." He said as he walked the surface, his gown like garment flowing across the floor in dark waves. "I tried to hold my memory together but this place has torn me apart. I have accepted my sentence, and I'm doomed here for all eternity."

Riku huffed. "Sora but you are alive! You can come with us! Back to the realm of light where you belong!"

Sora grit his teeth, "I don't belong there any longer. The darkness in my heart has become to much too bare." He held a hand to his heart and then felt Vanitas stir within him. Sora hushed him and asked for more time. Vanitas watched on, his eyes narrowing. He wanted to stop Sora's pain and this person he was speaking to was the cause of it. He wanted to stop it and destroy him. It festered inside him, gnawing at him.

But he waited. As Sora had asked him.

"It would only cause more pain." Sora finished. He stood tall and walked away.

"Sora!" Both Mickey and Riku ran after him. Sora stopped and turned, his eyes narrowing at Mickey. Mickey.. he tried to remember.. Mickey was the one who hid Riku away from him before... when Sora has been searching for him all those years ago... Yes, it came back to him, it was Mickey who had kept them apart for all that time... that was right. Sora felt these memories of Mickey as they were dampened by the darkness in his heart and was consumed by them.

He snarled and threw his hands out, shooting a beam of darkness at Mickey and knocking him back. "Stay out of this! I have nothing to say to you," his voice laced with venom. He created a force field around him and Riku, and stood tall as they started to circle the circumference.

"Sora please just stop fighting, we can go back home together!" Riku tried again desperate and Sora laughed.

"Go home together? Oh Riku I am home now." In his hand he materialized a keyblade, but not his kingdom key. This one was a copy of Soul Eater. Riku's first keyblade, all those years ago, and Sora held it up.

Riku swallowed. Sora looked powerful in his stance, the keyblade shining and his gown flowing. His violet eyes piercing.

"You are the one who needs to leave Riku. Or did my sacrifice mean nothing to you. I brought you all back and now that I'm dealt my fate, you want to cheat it. Well, we've cheated one too many times Riku. This can't end well you know. What is dead must stay dead, Riku. I shouldn't even exist anymore for what I've done." Sora yelled. His heart starting to burn. He wanted to exist, but he couldn't, not like this, not after he cheated Death.

"Sora I'm not gunna leave you now that I've found you again." Riku said as he stepped closer.

"You didn't even come here for me, Did you?! You came here for some other reason, and just so happened to stumble on me. You never cared, did you? You were all probably happy I was finally gone. I never saw a search party, none of you even tried, did you?!" He screamed as he felt tears fall. His heart beating wildly as the burn of the darkness increased. Vanitas tried again, but Sora stopped him, begging for more time.

"Of course we tried Sora! I never stopped believing, never." He pointed to his chest angrily. "Don't say I didn't look for you. I spent every waking minute of the day searching. But you were gone. But I never gave up hope." He grounded out in anger.

"Well you didn't look hard enough." Sora spoke and it hurt. Riku gritted his teeth.

"Please Sora, come back with us! There's nothing holding you here, you can come back to the realm of light." Riku persisted in his efforts.

"No Riku, I can't !" He yelled and swung his keyblade in anger. Riku dodged and held his own up, Braveheart clashing against the smaller blade and creating sparks.

"Sora no! I don't want to fight you!" He said as their blades clashed in-between them and the pushed against them. Sora twisted and thrusted his keyblade out again.

Riku pushed him, trying to avoid hitting him with his keyblade and Sora flew back. His gown flowing wildly as he flipped around and leaned on his feet.

"Why won't you just quit!" Sora screamed as tears fell. His heart bursting inside him. Why did it have to be Riku...

He felt Vanitas again and sighed, feeling him coat his heart in an armor like fashion. He closed his eyes and breathed deep before summoning a second keyblade in his other hand, and Riku gasped, preparing himself for another fight.

"Is that-? " Mickey called but was silenced as the force field grew dark and clouded. Mickey was no longer visible.

Sora's eyes opened and they were bright yellow. He swung down both blades in his new fighting stance and smiled wickedly. "Well Riku? Shall we?" Vanitas was showing through. He lunged and swiped the keyblades at Riku, who bounced away and blocked. His keyblade crashed into Sora's twin blades and he gritted his teeth. They broke apart and Riku panted, how was he supposed to win?

Sora swung again and Riku dodged. He never tried to swing at Sora, and and stayed on the defense.

Sora growled angrily and bashed his keyblades into Riku's. "Fight me you coward!" He sliced and diced and continued to slash at Riku's keyblade creating sparks around them.

"Why won't you fight me!" Sora yelled as the separated and panted for breath.

Riku shook his head, "I can't fight you Sora. I love you. "

Sora blinked and gasped slightly. "You what?" The keyblades both hanging limp at his sides.

"If you won't come with me to the realm of light... then I guess you'll just have to let me stay in the realm of darkness with you. You can do that or destroy me. Those are your choices." Riku said, and stood his ground.

"You're not serious," Sora scoffed, "Riku you belong in the realm of light , you shouldn't even be here right now!" He screamed and felt anguish. Vanitas quickly absorbing it.

"Those are your choices Sora, now are you going to choose?" Riku said and stepped closer, hand open for Sora to take. Sora held his keyblades up in defense to create some distance and stepped back.

"Riku you're a fool! I don't want to destroy you!" He continued to step back, afraid. Why couldn't Riku see Sora just wanted him to be safe. It wasn't safe here and he wouldn't wish this agony on anyone, let alone Riku. His heart twisted as he thought of Riku.

Tears started to form in his eyes again, and then the yellow of his irises slowly faded back to the striking shade of voilet. "Please!" Sora cried out, "Just leave me in my agony." He fell to his knees. The keyblades vanishing from his grip.

Riku was at his side instantly. "Sora!" He reached out and placed a hand on Sora's back. He felt blinding pain searing through his hand and pulled it back as if he was burned. "Sora-!" Riku gasped.

Sora's heart thumped wildly. His chest ached. "Riku.. " he whimpered and curled in on himself, with his head in his hands. "It's hurts so much. I missed you... so much." He cried in anguish. Vanitas soothed him from within his heart. But it wasn't enough, the source of the pain was to close to fully suppress it.

Riku looked at him and his heart broke. "Sora.." he fell to his knees and dropped his keyblade, and clutched Sora close to him in an emotional embrace. The pain radiating off of Sora's body and onto his was astounding and he almost choked on it. But continued to hold him and he felt a tear roll down his face. "I'm here , I'm here now Sora. I'll never leave you again, me and you it doesn't matter where we are, remember what you said when were here last time? Anywhere can be our home as long as we are together. You are my home Sora. And I want to be yours."

Sora felt Vanitas slip out of his mind and back into his heart, his pain slowly fading away. He felt more tears rain down his cheeks and sniffled.

He hugged Riku then and whimpered.

"I want to go home Riku.." his body shook with sobs as he folded into Riku's hug, letting all the emotions flow over him. It was so intense that he started to fall into a deep sleep while in Riku's arms. Riku's words in his ears and he closed his violet eyes.

"It will be okay Sora, you're home, rest now."

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The next time Sora opened his eyes it was to a blinding light in the sky. His eyes burned and he held a hand up. "Where-?" He sat up and squinted his eyes. Suddenly, Riku stood in front of him.

"Sora!" He said with a smile.

"Riku?" Sora asked and squinted around the light , his vision blurry.

Riku moves closer and stood in the lights path shielding Sora's eyes from its direct shine. Sora blinked up at him, the light creating a halo around Riku's head making him look like a literal angel.

"Where are we Riku?" Sora asked unsure, it was so very very bright, he couldn't tell where they were.

Riku smiled "You're in the realm of Light, Sora. "

Sora blinked at him with bright Blue eyes and let the information sink in. "The realm of light?" He felt the sun on his skin, and then his heart soared. The sun, the sky, he looked up to them and started to cry. It was real. He was home.

"You're home!" Mickey cried and hugged him, and Sora couldn't believe it. He sat in shock.

Riku waited until Mickey was done before speaking up. "Your home Sora," he smiled to him and held his hand out.

Sora blinked again and brushed the tears from his face. "Riku..." he took Riku's hand and stood, and then noticed he was still in the gown he had gotten in the realm of darkness... only it was sheer white now, a black crown crested at the neck. He thought about it briefly before choosing to ignore his state of dress and instead hugged Riku close to him.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Sora whispered, hugging Riku tightly. "I couldn't even remember you Riku, every time I tried... " Sora held his hand to his heart and more tears fell. "The pain was pure agony Riku. I didn't know when it would ever end."

Riku brushed the tears away and held him close. "It's over now Sora, Your home now. You don't have to hurt anymore."

Mickey kindly let them have their moment before speaking up.

"Uh Sora? I'm sure there's a few other people who would be really happy to see ya," he suggested and Sora smiled through more tears.

His friends. Donald, Goofy...Ventus, Aqua, Terra... Axel, Xion, Roxas...Namine, Kairi. He remembered their names and almost fell into Riku at the shock. "My friends..." he choked out and struggled to stand. Every emotion coming down on him at once. His heart squeezed and he felt Vanitas stir again.

'It will be okay little one, Join with your friends now. I will be with you.' He said comfortingly and Sora nodded.

"I'd like to see them!" He cried out, afraid to loose them now that he just got them back.

Mickey and Riku grinned and they all left together to head for the mysterious castle.

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	2. Chapter 2

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They had arrived at the mysterious tower by nightfall, and quickly were swooped up in a wave of hugs and tears as everyone welcomed Sora back into their world.

On their journey back to the tower in the Gummi Ship, Riku has sent word to Kairi of Sora's return, and had left it up to her to gather everyone she could on such short notice to welcome him back.

When they arrived, it was Roxas, Xion, Axel and Kairi who had greeted them. Sora noted how much older everyone looked now. With it being 10 years later and all, everyone was now in their late 20's and 30's. Sora too, had grown during his time in the abyss, but still felt quite young compared to all of them now.

They all one by one hugged Sora with tears in their eyes.

"Sora!" Roxas squeezed him in a bone crushing hug and Xion approached him softly with tears in her eyes. "Sora.."

Axel then made a comment about his state of dress and Sora finally acknowledged the outfit he was wearing.

"Oh this?" He held the fabric of the skirt in his fingers and looked over himself, the white gown flowing over his body and wrapping around his neck, a black crown crested in the center of the collar. "Hmm...I'm not really sure where I got this actually..."

He swished and watched the fabric twirl around his legs. Sora didn't think the dress was bad, per-say. Just different, but he did admit it did make him feel a little bit prettier. He wondered if this is what all those princesses he had met felt like in their pretty dresses and then his heart suddenly ached thinking about all those friends too. He swallowed.

Vanitas moved within him and Sora held a hand to his heart.

"Are you okay Sora?" Roxas asked and out a hand to his shoulder. Sora then smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'm okay, I just really missed everyone..." He then hugged Roxas close to him again. Roxas sighed into his hug and wrapped his arms around Sora. Sora was back.. his other. It was like a wave of relief.

Sora then turned to Xion and hugged her close feeling tears between them. There was so much that they all wanted to say to each other, so many things to talk about. Sora even started to feel a little overwhelmed by it all. Vanitas stirred within his heart again and wrapped around it to sooth him. It felt cold around the burning sensation that flared inside.

The only people missing were Terra, Aqua and Ventus, and Naminé but Kairi quickly said that they were expected to arrive sometime in the next few days before Sora could even ask.

Sora smiled at her kindness and hugged her too. She suddenly couldn't help but cry into his shoulder and Sora gripped her as more emotions welled up in his heart.

As the commotion around Sora and his return grew, Mickey slowly stepped away from the group and made his way to Master Yen Sid's office.

"Master Yen Sid?" He said as he knocked on the wooden door and stepped through, "I'm sure you are aware by now that Sora has returned to us," he closed the door behind him and stood in front of the masters desk.

"But there's something else I think we need to discuss...something troubling." Mickey said with a frown.

Master Yen Sid looked on with a stern look and nodded.

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"Are you certain it was his?"

"I'm positive Master. I know what I saw down there."

Master Yen Sid seemed greatly troubled. "Then we must heed with caution. This is not to be taken lightly." He said with a heavy frown, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Let us discus the matter further once Master Aqua arrives. For now, let us keep a close eye on Sora."

"As you wish Master Yen Sid."

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Once the initial shock faded away, everyone was able to settle inside the castle and relax before supper.

Sora found himself in his old room after excusing himself from the group for a moment and looked at the walls and then to the old bed. It all seemed so... foreign to him now.

There was a soft knock at his door before a voice called out to him.

"Sora, it's me, can I come in?" It was Riku's voice, and Sora immediately gave his permission.

Riku stepped through the door and stopped once he was inside. He simply looked at Sora standing there near his bed and then smiled softly to himself.

"I figured maybe you would want a change of clothing? I brought you some pajamas to wear." He said as he stepped closer to Sora.

Sora looked down at his dress again. "Oh uh, sure." He then ran a hand around the collar of the dress, finding no sort of zipper or button to release the fabric.

He frowned. "I'm not sure how to take this off actually."

Riku tilted his head in curiosity as he stepped closer. "...May I look?"

Sora nodded and turned around, moving his hair away from his neck.

Riku then pulled at the material, but couldn't find a way to release the fabric around Sora's neck either.

"We could .. cut it off?" Riku suggested and Sora suddenly frowned, not wanting to ruin such a pretty gown.

"Cut it..?" He stepped away.

"...Maybe the good fairies could sew a button on for you, if you would like?" Riku offered, sensing Sora's reluctance. It was a nice dress, and seeing Sora in it was a beautiful sight, so he could agree that he too didn't want to ruin it.

Sora eventually nodded. "Alright, we can cut it. I hope they will be able to fix it.."

Riku fetched a pair of scissors and reached them up to the fabric at the back of Sora's throat and started to cut.

Immediately, the gown then vanished off his body. Sora gasped and huddled over himself, now suddenly naked. "Wha-?!"

Riku held the scissors still open in shock. He blinked and then quickly regained composure, turning away and handing Sora the pajamas without looking.

After Sora took them from his hands though, he did look. He turned his head slightly and looked at Sora's turned back as he quickly put on the pajama pants. He saw a glint of black metal around his neck and he swallowed.

"Your... necklace..?" Riku began and Sora turned once the pants were on his waist. He looked down at the chain and held his hand up to the necklace and touched it, noticing its new color.

"My...?" His thoughts then flashed back to the abyss, in the Realm of Darkness, back to when his heart felt like it was going to burst from his chest.

He then remembered Vanitas, and how he chased the pain away from him and he clutched the necklace tighter and swallowed.

"It's black now..." Riku commented as he stepped closer to Sora to look at it.

"Black.." Sora's eyes looked sad. "Is it ...because of the darkness?"

Riku didn't say anything for a moment. "I'm not too sure really.."

Sora didn't know how to respond to that.

"Maybe it's like, because you were able to survive so long in the darkness... that some of it became a part of you."

Sora's eyes widened. "Became ...a part of me?"

/Join with me, Join your heart with mine/

Riku reassured him. "That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. Remember, I too have darkness in me. But I have since learned to control it. If you do have darkness inside of you Sora, I know you can learn to control it too. You're the strongest person I know. You can do anything." He smiled at Sora and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Learn to control it.." Sora let the thought roll around in his head.

"I believe you have the strength to do it Sora. You just gotta look inside of yourself for the answers." Riku said and hoped his words were helping Sora.

"Thank you Riku..." He said, and moved to put the pajama shirt on finally. He looked at his new outfit. "Good?"

Riku nodded as his eyes moved over Sora. "You look.. cute."

"Cute??" Sora flushed and pouted. "I'm not cute! I should have grown out of my "cute" phase by now!" He crossed his arms and continued to pout.

Riku face cracked into a huge smile as he chucked at Sora. "Grown out of it huh?" He ruffled Sora's hair then. "Come on, the others are probably waiting to start supper with you. Don't wanna keep them waiting much longer do you?"

Sora's heart lurched at that and he frowned. "No...I don't." They then both made their way to the dinning hall to meet with their friends.

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The table was set for a king, truly as the amount of food they had managed to fit on the small table was quite a feat.

Sora stood in the entry way looking on at his old friends. They were all mid argument over something funny apparently, as Xion and Kairi were having trouble keeping their laughs hidden, and Roxas and Axel looked ready to start wrestling each other, both sporting wide grins and determined eyes. Riku shook his head at their antics and motioned for Sora to sit at the head of the table.

Sora nodded and sat down slowly, just taking in everything. He was afraid everything would suddenly come crashing down and prove to him it was all some sort of sick dream. That he was still trapped there, in the darkest depths of the abyss. It was almost to good to be real, and it had to have been a sick joke fate was playing on him.

Vanitas started to uncurl within him once again, sensing his looming distress and Sora felt a small rush at the sensation, knowing what Vanitas next actions would be. Sora then reached his hand down and dug his nails into his thigh, forcing himself to breathe, and forced Vanitas back. He could feel Vanitas grow frustrated.

"Sora, we made your favorites! Please eat!" Xion spoke up after a moment in between the groups bickering, and gestured to the plates of food on the table.

Sora blinked and noticed the food finally. When was the last time he had actual food? He looked at all the different dishes with awe.

"You guys did this for me?" He said and Xion smiled.

"Everyone helped! It was Roxas's idea to make you a nice supper for your first night back!" She said and smiled at Roxas.

Roxas grinned at him. "I knew you'd be hungry with that bottomless pit of a stomach you have!"

Sora smiled sadly at that with tears in his eyes. "...you guys..." his voice was soft. He didn't deserve all this kindness. They were all so sweet and thoughtful to him. He shouldn't be allowed to enjoy this kind of life anymore... after what he did. How could he just come back and act as if nothing had happened? Sit around the table and enjoy his life again? There had to be some sort of catch, some sort of price for this sort of happiness... all of those years in the abyss didn't seem like it was enough to pay for everyone's lives...

"Come on Sora, no more tears," Axel spoke up and grinned, "you gotta eat this food they cooked before it gets cold now!"

Kairi started putting small portions onto a plate for Sora, and Riku started to pour everyone a glass of water. Sora smiled at his friends sadly. "Thank you everyone.."

Kairi placed his now full plate in front of him, and handed him a fork. "Dig in!" She smiled happily, hoping Sora would feel better with a tummy full of good food.

He took the fork in his fingers and scooped up a bite of some of the delicious food and brought it to his mouth.

It was...

disgusting.

Sora's eyes widened before he almost spit the substance out. He instead quickly swallowed and tried to keep his face from showing his disgust, not wanting to embarrass who ever had made that particular dish, and he weakly smiled and held a thumbs up.

"It's .. great!" He lied and hoped everyone would just roll with it. They all did, and then continued to eat their own meals happily.

Sora looked at the plate in confusion. He felt a worry trickle inside of him, and moved his fork to a different section and tried that instead.

It was vile.

Sora swallowed again, and his eyebrows furrowed. What in the world? He looked at everyone else, and no one seemed to think their food was bad. He tried one more time, and dipped his fork into what should be a sweet dessert treat. He placed it in his mouth, and closed his eyes.

Horrid. Exceptionally disgusting. Sora frowned, feeling uneasy. A sense of dread started to well up in his heart.

He could feel Vanitas getting impatient now, and he shook his head trying to clear his thoughts.

"Sora what's wrong ? Is your food okay?" Riku then spoke up, having been watching him the whole time struggle to eat.

Sora looked up and waved his hand, immediately looking to lie and cover himself. "Oh no, it's... it's not that. I just.. my stomach isn't..." he shook his head, not knowing what to say. "I guess I'm just not hungry right now?" He chucked nervously and brought a hand up to rub his head.

Everyone looked at one another and then back to Sora. Kairi spoke up.

"Well it's okay Sora, if you are not hungry now, you can always eat left overs!" She smiled and Sora smiled back feeling relieved at Kairi's willingness to give him escape routes. She seemed to know something was up, but would allow him the time he needed to sort it out for himself.

"Yeah like midnight snacks!" Roxas said grinning, knowing all too well of the midnight snack hauls.

"Or a 3 AM lunch!" Xion said laughing, and at that Sora blushed in embarrassment and smiled.

"I can't help it sometimes, when I'm hungry, I'm hungry." Sora said sheepishly.

Everyone laughed and continued to eat their food while Sora watched on. He pushed his fork around his food again, thinking.

Maybe this was it. Maybe he did come back different. He tried one more time on a different section and once again was met with a sour taste in his mouth and disappointment.

Vanitas made his presence known again within him and Sora then flushed slightly, thinking about it.

He cleared his throat and brought everyone's attention back to him.

"Um..May I be excused actually? I'm kinda tired honestly.." He asked, and everyone's eyes softened.

"Of course Sora! Don't let us keep you!" Kairi immediately replied, and Sora smiled at her.

"Thanks everyone," he started and sighed, "I'm just... so happy to be back now... I wish we could stay up and talk...but it's ... it's been a long day.."

"Nonsense Sora, go get some rest! We will all be here when you wake up." Axel replied and grinned at him.

Roxas nodded, "Yeah, and tomorrow we can hang out all day!"

Sora smiled and stood. "Thank you everyone, really. I'll see you all tomorrow then," he then turned and walked out of the dinning hall, and could feel everyone's eyes on his back as they watched him leave.

Once Sora was free from their eyes though, he felt himself loose his smile. With each step back to his room, he felt the pain come back to him. Maybe the food being bad was the price he would have to pay for cheating death? He frowned. He knew it was just too good to be true. It was only fair.

Vanitas hummed and stretched within his heart, ready to come out already. He was tired of waiting, tired of listening to Sora continually becoming more and more distressed and it angered him.

Before, he wouldn't need to wait to help his Sora, but now with all these other people, Vanitas knew he wasn't going to be able to just help Sora out anymore. Not with their prying eyes.

It infuriated him to no end. He hated these people. They were the cause of all the distress and pain. They were the problem. Sora just needed to be alone finally so Vanitas could help him. No one could help Sora like he could.

It was like Vanitas had found a new purpose in life. After being defeated in the Keyblade Graveyard all those years ago and resigning himself to being complete Darkness, he awoke within it. The Realm Of Darkness, that is. His new home. Or atleast, that's what he assumed it was. He then stayed there for awhile, just floating within the abysmal blackness of the dark. He felt no more negative emotions within him, and finally was able to simply exist without hurting. For once in his life, he finally felt at peace. Even if it was a tad bit lonely. He wasn't hurting anymore.

Until suddenly, he knew he wasn't alone any longer. There was a tug at his heart as he knew something was wrong.

It was Sora. Farther in the darkness, Sora floated deep into the abyss. Vanitas almost couldn't believe it. The golden boy was now cast into darkness, along side of him?

Vanitas simply watched him for awhile in curiosity and then felt another sharp tug inside him when Sora started to cry. It confused him. Why did he care? Sora wasn't as important to him as someone like Ventus surely.

But then, he let himself think about it more and realized, that maybe he did care about his look-alike more then he thought. Sora was different from Ventus after all. Sora saved them both, when his heart was first born into the world. Sora was stronger than Ven. Sora's light was brighter.

But then, what was it doing in a place like this? Had the light not won the battle in the keyblade graveyard after all?

The pair then joined together, Vanitas' curiosity winning in the end, and after that, Vanitas became addicted to helping Sora. He wanted to chase those negative emotions away from Sora, the emotions Vanitas was all to familiar with. He would devour them from all existence if he had too. No one should have to feel the pain and suffering that he had felt. Especially his Sora. The brightest Light of them all. No, Vanitas then decided he would then become Sora's shadow, enraptured by his light, and vowed to end all the hurt in Sora's heart, wanting that light to continue to shine brightly. It made him... happy when he thought about Sora being happy. Happiness... it was, so new to him.

Vanitas briefly remembered wanting light and salvation at one point when he was very young, first born into the world. He didn't want to be pure darkness at first, but he soon gave himself to it and let it consume him, entering the vicious cycle of never ending despair and agony.

Vanitas thought about Sora's light now, and knew he didn't want that pain in Sora's heart, destroying that precious light.

It felt good inside when Vanitas ate Sora's emotions. He was going to let them become a part of himself. He was accustomed to the feeling of despair and agony, and so he welcomed it. But, instead of Vanitas feeling these extreme emotions that he was devouring, like he had expected, all he felt in return was desire and arousal. His heart feeling full as he pulled the stress and pain from Sora and turned his cries of pain into one's of pleasure.

It was strange, exciting and new to Vanitas. He had never before felt this sort of pleasure in his life. Never before felt any pleasure in his life. He knew then he would only crave more of it.

Once Sora was finally back in his room, he flipped off the light and flopped down on the bed. He snuggled under the blanket and flipped onto his back, starring at the high ceiling. He breathed slowly for a moment, relaxing into the mattress before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep...

When he opened his eyes next, Vanitas was there, leaning over his body with a wide grin.

"Finally." He said and leaned down on top of Sora, kissing him deeply.

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Riku walked the hallway to Sora's room with a frown. He worried about Sora and wanted to check on him again. Seeing Sora not eat earlier was troubling, but he hoped by tomorrow he would feel better.

He knocked softly on Sora's door and called out to him, and when he got no response, he opened the door quietly to check if Sora was even inside.

He looked in the dark room and saw Sora already asleep on his bed. Riku smiled, feeling happy Sora was safe and sound, sleeping peacefully again. He took one more long look before closing the door and retreating to his own room, ready to turn in for the night.

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	3. Chapter 3

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Vanitas thrusted deeper into Sora and kissed him roughly, chasing his cries. Sora was wrapped around him so beautifully. His fingernails were digging into Vanitas' back as he continued to drive all the hurt away from Sora's mind.

Sora was crying to himself as he lay back on the pillows, letting the pain of the day wash over and out of his body, as Vanitas gave him something else to latch onto. He moaned and rested his head in Vanitas' neck as the pleasure continued to build.

"Vani.." Sora whined and arched into him, his nails dragging on his skin and Vanitas groaned and pushed into him harder, griping his hips tightly. He would make Sora feel so good. There would be no more pain if Vanitas had his way. It was intoxicating, all these new feelings he was experiencing. Sora was giving him something Ventus never could. He wanted everything Sora could offer him.

Sora in return, felt wonderful and allowed himself to forget about the stress of the day, only seeking the comfort of Vanitas' touch. He craved more of the sensations that Vanitas was giving him. He flushed and shook with pleasure as his heart soared. Everything was going to be okay, as long as Vanitas was with him. He held onto him higher, clinging on like a life-line.

Sora's fingernails continued to dig into Vanitas' back, and Vanitas moaned at the sensation.

"Sora..." He then grabbed Sora's wrists and pinned them down above his head and started to fuck into him fast and rough. Sora cried out in pleasure and Vanitas chased it. Chased it to his lips and pressed theirs together, their tongues swirling around each other.

Sora moaned louder as he felt himself reaching the crest of his pleasure and turned away from the kiss to cry out as his body flushed deeper and arched beautifully.

"Vanitas!" He cried out in ecstasy.

Vanitas threw his head back at the sheer pleasure around him and let himself go too. He thrusted a few more times as they both rode the last waves of their orgasms together and collapsed on top of Sora with a huff, still buried inside of him.

Sora felt a gentle warmth in his heart and panted for breath feeling at peace again. His leaned up and kissed Vanitas as a silent thank you for his efforts, and craved more intimacy with him.

Vanitas kissed him back with a new ferocity. He could never tire of this, this feeling of complete bliss. This was what true happiness felt like? He wished to never be without this feeling again.

The pair then started to mold into each other again but suddenly, there was a weird noise happening next to them and Vanitas turned his head to the source, wondering just what exactly was making any noise at all, and when he saw what it was, he almost yelled.

Sora looked over sensing Vanitas' sudden fear and sat up a little on his elbows in a mix of shock and confusion as he also saw exactly what caused the distress.

It was an Unversed.

It had the familiar symbol stamped on its chest. But when Sora looked at creatures body, his heart ached.

"M-Meow wow??" Sora cried out suddenly very afraid. It looked just like a Meow Wow dream-eater spirit. But, it had the telltale Unversed symbol on its chest, and was darker in color. Darker than even the nightmare versions of Meow wow. Completely black. With violent Red eyes.

Sora felt more frightened as the thing then hopped on its tummy up onto the bed, coming closer to them.

Vanitas growled in vicious anger at the sight of the Unversed and summoned his keyblade, swinging at the creature unconsciously. It had been 10 years since a single Unversed had spawn, and he had figured Sora was the answer to that problem of his. But now that one existed again, Vanitas was furious at himself for believing that there was even a shred of hope.

"Wait, Vanitas!" Sora tried to stop him from killing the creature, but was too late, as Vanitas brought his blade upon it, the body evaporating into thin air.

What happened next though, greatly shocked and confused them both.

Sora wailed in pain when it died, his body locking up as he literally felt all the despair and anguish he had just gotten rid of, re-enter his body.

Tears fell from his eyes as he felt choked by his own sobs at the pain radiating within him.

Vanitas was flabbergasted as he looked at Sora. Utterly shocked. The Unversed.. Vanitas had killed it and yet it did not hurt him one bit. He watched the thing die and then it was Sora who was the one who reacted to the violent emotions re-entering him. Vanitas dropped his keyblade and it vanished before hitting the bed.

Sora sniffled and wiped his tears from his eyes. The pain, it was indescribable. It was almost worst then when he first felt these emotions and it scared him deeply.

Vanitas was still looking at him in a state of shock, and shook his head in a sense of disbelief. He never once had ever felt sorrowful for anyone until that very moment. The simple concept of sorrow foreign to him. Until now. Sora had felt the Unversed return to him. Sora had felt the true agony that Vanitas knew all to well. He wanted to make it go away. He wanted to make the hurt stop. He needed too.

He leaned down and took Sora's lips in his again, but Sora turned his head away, still sobbing after the Unversed meow wow's death, and the pain it had brought him. Vanitas felt his own heart ache looking at him.

"I'm... sorry." He said finally. Was that really what this was, to feel sorry? To feel sorrow at things that he had caused? He didn't like this feeling. He didn't want to be the cause of the pain in Sora's heart! He wanted to end it. He felt anger at himself. What had he done?

Sora looked up at him through tear filled eyes. "Why did it hurt so bad?" He whined still crying.

"I... It was supposed to go back to me! Not you." Vanitas said with a growl, confused and frustrated.

"I don't understand..?" Sora wiped his eyes as he struggled to breathe.

"... Unversed are created from the negative emotions. When you kill one, The emotions would return to me. I... thought it was one of mine. Apparently it was yours."

Sora's eyes widened at that. "I created that?" He felt scared.

Vanitas thought about it, feeling more frustrated. "But you haven't been creating them before, so why now?"

Suddenly, amidst all their confusion and worry, A new voice spoke out from the dark fogginess of the night.

"Sora..?"

Sora gasped and instantly knew who was and fear crept into his heart as he looked at Vanitas.

"Riku?"

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Riku struggled to fall asleep that night. Constantly tossing and turning in his bed. He was feeling frustrated. He was keeping himself up with worry over Sora. He shook his head and sighed as he turned onto his back. He thought more of Sora and how much he had missed him.

Sora had grown since the last time Riku had laid eyes on him, he was taller now, but not by much, and was still shorter than Riku. That thought made him smile at how much it would annoy Sora. It was silly.

His thoughts then eventually drifted back to their confrontation in the realm of darkness and his smile then turned to a frown.

He remembered the way Sora had looked at him with his different colored eyes. First purple, and then yellow, now blue. It frightened him to think about it. Sora's eyes looked so tired too when they had arrived back in the realm of light. Like he was exhausted.

Riku then thought back to their fight, and about the keyblades that Sora has summoned. He used two mid battle, and that thought also scared him. For a person to be able to wield two blades... they would need to be in sync with a second heart. One of the keyblades was identical to Riku's original blade, Soul Eater. The second Riku did not recognize.

He then wondered, if it was his own heart that allowed Sora to summon Soul Eater, but wasn't to sure. The second keyblade definitely confused him. He would have to speak to Mickey about it tomorrow he figured as he tried to relax and fall asleep.

He struggled and tossed, unable to find that slumber.

Riku eventually huffed and rolled on his back again, defeated.

He knew of one way to relax...

He flushed but allowed his thoughts to wander. He instantly thought of Sora. But did not find that he was embarrassed about that fact. No, he had thought a lot about Sora this way. He was over being embarrassed by his thoughts at this point. He was very aware of his own attraction to him. Being nearly obsessed with him for the ten years he had been gone, and now he was here, alive and safe.

Riku sighed as he reached his hand down and closed his eyes, as he imagined Sora with him.

Riku closed his hand around himself and moaned softly. He pictured that cute face of Sora's in that new gown of his and bit his lip, thinking about what it would be like to put his hands up it. Sora would maybe blush as Riku would touch him.

He groaned and turned around to lay on his stomach, his hand making quick strokes. His free hand fisted the sheets and he thrusted lightly thinking about how Sora would feel like beneath him.

Riku let himself go in his fantasy, thinking of Sora's smaller body under him as he thrusted into his hand, and eventually came with a small gasp of Sora's name.

He instantly felt relaxed and sleepy, weakly grabbing a tissue to clean himself before he allowed sleep to finally carry him off.

When he opened his eyes next though, it was to a loud cry of pain, shouting through the halls. Instantly, Riku knew it was Sora and jumped from his bed to rush to Sora's room. He called out to him, frightened as he reached closer to the door.

"Sora..?"

He could hear Sora's panicked voice call out his name though the door, and he pulled it open and rushed inside.

Sora was on his bed crying. Instantly, Riku ran up to the bed. "Sora!" He said, panicked.

Sora sat up and clutched the blankets close to his body as he tried to control his tears.

"Riku..." he was so confused at everything that was happening. Vanitas had instantly disappeared from him the moment Riku appeared in his room and Sora felt himself missing Vanitas' touch.

Riku knelt down beside the bed and wanted to reach out for Sora but he stopped himself.

"What happened Sora? I heard you scream," he said with worry written all over his face.

Sora just started crying harder. He curled in and brought the blanket up to his face crying into it.

"Riku.." he cried brokenly, not being able to voice thoughts over his own sobs and then Riku instantly sat down next to him and scooped Sora up in a strong hug. Riku ignored the fact that Sora was naked under the blanket and simply held him, rubbing his bare back in soothing circles as he shushed him.

"It's Alright Sora. I'm here now. Let it all out okay? I'm right here." He said as he continued to try to calm Sora down.

Sora felt a wave of relief wash over him at the embrace, and noticed it was in some way similar to how it felt with Vanitas, and relaxed into Riku's hug. He let himself cry and slowly regained control over his breathing after awhile. When he was finally able to stop, he sat back in Riku's hold and looked at him.

"What are you doing in here Riku?" He finally asked not understanding how Riku was here with him, as Sora had not woken up yet from his dream.

Riku did not seem to understand. "I heard you yell, of course I would come see if you were alright Sora," he let his arms fall to Sora's sides loosely, as he played with the fabric of the blanket. "Will you tell me what happened Sora? Why did you scream? ... was it a nightmare?" He supplied hoping Sora would give him something to work with. He wanted to help him, but if Sora kept bottling things up...

Sora looked into Riku's eyes. "I ... Yes... it was a nightmare." He resigned. He supposed this whole thing was a nightmare. It was a nightmare from the moment he awoke from his eternal sleep in the abyss. Sora felt more tears gather, and Riku instantly brushed his thumb up to wipe them away.

Riku felt an anger inside himself. Nightmares. Sora was having nightmares and Riku wanted to end them. His poor Sora, who had been trapped for a nearly decade in the darkness, still could not catch a break, even when returned to the light. His heart ached for him. Riku then held Sora close to him again and rubbed his hands over his back.

Sora unconsciously leaned into him, seeking his comfort. He rested his head in Riku's neck and fisted his hands in Riku's shirt. He listened to Riku's heart beat thump loudly in his chest and let it calm him. His eyes then wandered up to look at Riku's face and suddenly, he wanted to kiss him.

Vanitas felt annoyance flair within him at that. He watched the scene in silent anger as Riku held Sora close. He made no move to show himself though. Letting the scene play out.

Sora then spoke up amidst the darkness.

"Riku... will you lay with me?" He asked shyly. He was rewarded with a small smile from Riku and then Sora allowed him into the blankets, pulling them open next to him.

When Riku was settled, Sora then blushed as Riku grabbed him suddenly from beneath the covers and held his body close to his own.

"Riku.." he tried to sit up and create distance, feeling embarrassed by his nakedness but Riku just held him closer.

"It's alright Sora, just relax, and lay here with me." He said but loosened his hold, so if Sora still chose to, he could remove himself from Riku's grasp. But he too, was rewarded with Sora melting back into his touch. Riku then turned to lay on his back and allowed Sora to curl around him, his head on Riku's chest.

He tried not to get too distracted by Sora's body pressing into his side. Riku wrapped his arm around him and squeezed him.

"Rest now Sora. I won't let the nightmares hurt you again." His free hand had reached up to brush at Sora's hair and they relaxed together and slowly let sleep take them.

Vanitas looked on at them with unbridled anger. How dare Riku just come in and interrupt him and His Sora? And now- Riku was in the bed with him, holding Sora! Vanitas felt loathing at the man. Riku. The main source of Sora's pain for the past decade. He was a thorn in Vanitas' side that he wanted gone. He needed to figure out a way to get Sora away from him, and quickly.

He decided to let them sleep as he thought long into the night.

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When Riku awoke early the next morning, He was back in his own bed. Riku felt confusion at when and how he even had gone back to his own bed, and sat up, rubbing a hand to his eyes.

He thought back to last night and remembered Sora and the nightmare he had. He frowned and decided to go back and see if Sora was alright now that it was morning.

When he reached his doorway, he found the room was empty and he frowned again. It was quite early in the morning for Sora to be up, as he was never one to really rise with the sun. Riku then made his way down to the dining hall hoping to find Sora there.

Instead, Mickey was there, speaking to Kairi about something. They looked up when they had seen Riku enter.

"Oh Riku, good morning!" Mickey said cheerfully, "Could you please come over here with us, as there are some things I need to discuss with you and Kairi," he asked gesturing for Riku to sit with them at the table.

Riku instantly sat, as per the King's request. "Of course Mickey. What's going on?"

"It's about Sora." Mickey began and Riku immediately turned worried.

"Master Yen Sid and I are worried about him. We would like you both to keep a close eye on him while as he readjusts to life in the realm of light."

"Worried about him how?" Kairi asked looking at Riku with a common concern. They both honestly were worried about him too, but didn't know what to make of the situation.

Mickey sighed and thought for a moment. "We are worried the darkness may have effected his heart more then we expected."

Riku swallowed and thought back to yesterday, when Sora had asked if Riku had thought that maybe there was darkness in him. He clenched his fist in his lap.

"We just want everyone to keep a watchful eye on him for now." Mickey continued, "Soon Master Aqua, Terra, Ventus and Naminé will arrive, and while we don't want to make everyone panic, we do want some of you to be aware at what we might be dealing with. We all just want what's best for him after all. I know you both will watch out for him if something were to seem wrong." Mickey smiled and nodded at them when they agreed.

"We will watch over Sora, Mickey. Don't you worry, I know he will be alright with us." Kairi said and smiled, determined to help her friend. "If there really is darkness within him, we will all work together to help him through it!"

Mickey smiled at her. "If you two notice anything different about him, please let myself or Master Yen Sid know. But I'm sure as long as Sora's got such great friends like you guys, he should be alright." Mickey said with a smile as he moved to get up.

"I have some places that I need to head to here in a moment, so I will leave you both to get some breakfast. I will see you again in the next few days, once I return." Mickey said with a smile.

Riku looked up at him, "Is that wise to leave now?" He wasn't sure what to make of everything, and he had still yet to speak to Mickey about what happened. He wasn't even sure if he really wanted to now.

"I really must go, as you remember why we went to the realm of darkness in the first place Riku. We still need to figure all that out," Mickey insisted, "But don't worry Riku, Master Yen Sid will still be here if anything were to happen, and you yourself are a Keyblade master. I know you hold the strength within you to protect the things that matter! And no matter what, I'll always be with you in your heart. Just like Sora will always be in our hearts. You see? Plus, Axel, Roxas and Xion are also here! Their hearts are strong too. You guys will never truly be alone. Just remember that."

Kairi nodded in agreement. "Together. We'll all watch over Sora. It's what friends do for each other."

Mickey smiled and then turned to leave with a goodbye to the duo.

Riku then watched as Mickey left and felt a sense of nervousness. He didn't move to speak up though and let Mickey leave.

Kairi then spoke up. "Riku are you okay?" She asked. She was a natural empath and knew Riku was troubled by something.

Riku shook his head. "Just worried about Sora too..." he then thought back to Sora's room and remembered he wasn't there when Riku had looked earlier.

"He wasn't in his room when I just checked actually, I don't know where he is now." Riku said and looked to Kairi.

Kairi blinked. "He's not in his room?"She then sat up, and knew something was wrong. "Well lets go look for him?"

Riku smiled and nodded, standing with her. "Okay Kairi let's go."

They then split up to search.

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Sora had awoken before the sun had risen. He found himself cold in his empty room alone and rubbed his eyes, wiping the dried tears from his cheeks.

Last night had been awful. He slowly recalled the experience and shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself. The Unversed. Sora created ...that thing. And when it was Destroyed... the pain felt like he himself was being destroyed, from the inside out.

Sora curled more and felt the sadness, it was overpowering.

A new noise at his bedside table made him look up, and he gasped and reclined back in shock at what he saw.

Another Unversed was just sitting on his floor. This one looked like one of the original ones, a black and wiry looking thing with red eyes. Sora felt frightened as it stalked and hopped up on the bed with him.

Sora then heard footsteps from above him in the tower and looked up in fear. People were starting to wake up, and soon someone would come to Sora eventually. He looked back to the Unversed on his bed. He needed to get rid of it, as Sora was ashamed he even created such a thing. No one could know he was even capable of doing it.

He had to get it out of here. Sora could not bring himself to kill the thing, knowing it would in turn cause him great pain. He reached up and grabbed the thing and held it to him. He grunted in pain when it started to scratch at his hands to get free.

Sora quickly stood up, thankful he was still wearing his pajamas from last night and had not unconsciously taken them off during all the activities in his dreams, and hurried to the door with the Unversed clutched in his arms. He would need to hurry if he did not want to be seen.

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Kairi and Riku has searched the entire premises and came up empty handed. The sun was now high in the sky and soon Roxas Axel and Xion joined the duo down in the dining hall.

"Good morning everyone!" Axel said in a sing song voice as he laughed, walking in with his other two companions. He looked to Riku and Kairi and dropped his smile soon though. "Why the long faces guys? Did something happen?"

Roxas and Xion looked over in wonder too. "Where's Sora?" Roxas then asked, sensing something was wrong.

Kairi and Riku looked at each other. "We spent the whole morning looking but he seems to have disappeared." Riku finally said and turned to the rest of the group.

Everyone looked shocked.

"Disappeared??" Xion questioned with fear. Sora could not have just up and vanished could he? He had only just returned to them!

"What do you mean disappeared!" Roxas said suddenly angry. If Sora was missing, why did no one wake him sooner?! Sora was his Other. He felt a sort of responsibility to him, to watch out for him.

"Sora was in his bed last night. He had a nightmare and I went to him to comfort him. In the morning though, he was gone." Riku said with his hand clenched.

Kairi then lifted her head sadly. "We looked all over but can't seem to find him." She frowned and felt really worried for her friend.

Axel then suddenly felt his own urge to comfort Kairi, after seeing her look so sad, and reached his hand on to her shoulder. "Aww, It will be okay guys! The three of us will start looking too. He can't have gone far right?" He then looked at Roxas and Xion and knew they were already determined to find him. They all nodded together in agreement.

"Alright gang, lets split up!" Axel grinned and the younger adults all started to go their own ways to hunt for Sora. Riku left the room slowly, behind Roxas and Xion, the latter then going off then together in a duo group, and Riku was left on his own, as he preferred that way as he left to find Sora.

Axel hung back behind them all and waited silently as Kairi was starting to leave and the tapped her on the shoulder before she could exit.

"Uh, Kairi?" He asked, a little nervous suddenly.

"Yes, Axel?" She smiled brightly and turned to him, and Axel was instantly brightened by her light.

"Kairi would you.. like to look together maybe? Two heads are better than one you know." Axel grinned and held his finger to his temple in his familiar joking fashion and Kairi felt her smile widen.

"I would love that Axel, thank you." She wrapped an arm around his and nodded. "Two heads are better than one." She agreed.

Axel smiled and then the two set off in their search for their lost friend.

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	4. Chapter 4

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Sora fled the tower early in the morning with the Unversed creature clenched in his grip. He felt frightened as he hurried deeper into the Forrest and eventually somehow found himself near a tiny lake in the center of a densely wooded area, just outside the towering building.

It was a serene little place for peace and quiet where all the keyblade wielders could go to think after speaking with Master Yen Sid. Sora had never taken the time to notice it before. Maybe because it had never existed, not until someone needed it that is.

Sora allowed himself to sit at the base of a tall tree and let go of the Unversed he was still carrying. It made a disgruntled noise as it hopped away from him and then turned its glaring red eyes at him.

Sora frowned looking at it. It was dark and scary looking. And Sora was the one who had created it. It ashamed him to think that he was capable of bringing such creatures of darkness into the world, and thought maybe it was just another price to pay for cheating deaths toll.

He had no idea what he would do with this creature now that it existed, not believing he would be able to kill it. He felt fear and sadness at the thought of it and remembered the awful pain he had felt when Vanitas had slashed at one. He wrapped his arms around himself tightly.

Suddenly, another Unversed appeared next to the original, and Sora gasped and held his hands to his mouth, backing up against the tree.

He created another one! Horror started to fill his body and he felt Vanitas uncurl within him finally.

"Vani I'm scared!" Sora whispered as he covered his eyes with his hands and let tears gather. He felt the Unversed's red eyes on him, staring at him, unnervingly.

Vanitas felt frustrated at the situation. His Sora was frightened by the dreadful creatures as anyone should be, they were awful things. Vanitas wanted to destroy them, but that would only Hurt Sora more.

He resigned to doing the one thing he knew how to do and pulled Sora backwards with him into a deep sleep. He pulled them both back down and shushed Sora's cries with his lips.

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Beside Sora's now unconscious body, the two unversed creatures decided now was a good time to explore and to investigate the new land they had been placed upon in wonder. Now being free, freshly born into the world, they wanted to stretch their legs and test their abilities. No longer being watched by their creator, the Unversed then made their way to the lights in the distance, heading straight to the tower.

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After finding out Sora had been missing and separating themselves from the main party, Roxas and Xion decided to search the outside space for their lost friend.

Once the pair was outside, Xion looked up and saw the sun rising high in the sky within a blanket of white clouds and she smiled. "It's such a nice day today, where do you think Sora would have gone, Roxas?"

Roxas looked into the sky too and thought about it. He imagined a familiar sun , but on a different piece of land. One with sand and green umbrella trees, and Roxas heard the ocean in his ears. He smiled.

"There's not an ocean near by is there?" He laughed, smiling at Xion, knowingly.

They both smiled as they thought of Sora and his home of the Destiny Islands, and decided to walk together deeper into the forrest, to continue their search. Just hoping that maybe Sora would just be hanging out somewhere... maybe even off taking a nap in the warm sun. Xion smiled at that thought, that would be a very Sora thing to do, get everyone all worried only for him to be snoozing away with out a care in the world...

Suddenly, noises from the trees shook them from their happy thoughts. Roxas instinctively placing his arm in front of Xion to shield her as he summoned Oathkeeper to his side.

Two dark creatures with violent red eyes emerged from the bushes and hissed as they jumped and tried to attack the pair.

Roxas twisted and swung at one of the creatures but missed as it jumped back.

Xion then summoned her own keyblade Oblivion into her hands and stood back to back with Roxas as they each looked down at a dark creature. They both simultaneously attacked and destroyed the creatures with quick swift swings of their blades.

"What were those things?" Xion asked now that they appeared to be safe and released her keyblade from her grasp, and let it dematerialize.

Roxas did the same with his own blade and shook his head, just as confused. "I've never seen a heartless or a dusk look like that..."

They suddenly then became more worried about their missing friend all at once.

"We need to find Sora," Roxas said and Xion nodded, already thinking the same thing as they both ran further into the woods searching for their lost friend.

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Axel and Kairi had decided to check every room inside the tower, top to bottom, and they soon found themselves high in an attic storage room and coughed at all the dust inside.

"Gee Kai, do you really think Sora is in here? It doesn't look like anyone has been inside this room for centuries!" Axel said as he ran a hand over a dust covered cabinet.

Kairi looked unconvinced, wanting desperately to check every possible nook and cranny.

"It's the only room we haven't checked, there's got to be some answers here." She said as she shifted to move further into the room, and squeezed herself between two large boxes.

"Hey! Don't get lost now too, princess!" Axel called and reached for her as she disappeared into the stacks of clutter.

He could hear Kairi's giggle at the nickname ring thought out the room and felt himself smile at the sound. He shook his head at himself and pushed to squeeze through the boxes to follow her.

They walked around the clutter, just looking at all the stacks of books and boxes lining the walls, when Kairi noticed an odd chest that looked fairly new compared to all the other things in storage. This chest had less dust then the rest of the items near it and it struck Kairi with a sense of curiosity. She kneeled down in front of it and opened it.

Axel watched her with interest. He knelt down beside her as she opened the lid and saw stacks of paper inside. He cocked his head as he looked at some of the documents.

Kairi picked up a page and started reading, her eyes scanning the page quickly.

Axel lifted the top of a small stack and looked through the middle of the the bunch, not really seeing anything of interest on the pages. It looked like research notes from a long time ago. As Axel shuffled the papers around, a half torn piece fell out and landed on his lap. Axel picked it up and read the words on it.

"What is an Unversed?" He asked after reading the page.

Kairi then looked up. "A what?" She reached for the paper in Axels hands and read its contents.

'Unversed are dangerous, proceed with caution,' was all she could make out as the rest was redacted and scratched out with thick black lines. Kairi let the idea roll around in her head for a moment. "Unversed... why do I think I have heard that before?"

The paper was torn in half and any other information about Unversed was missing. Axel shrugged and took the paper back from her.

Kairi then went back to reading her first page after awhile and let her eyes widen when she reached the end.

"Axel you gotta read this one," she said and handed it to him with worry written in her features.

"What's this about?" Axel said and read the page. "Notes from Ansem the Wise? About experiments?"

"That page says that he started to experiment on a little girl!" Kairi said as she pointed to the end of the page, knowing something didn't seem right.

A little girl? What would ansem the wise need with a little girl?

Axel then turned the page over and read the back side. "Studying the intricacies of the heart, it says. So what then... he choose a little girl as his lab rat?" He said with a laugh, thinking the whole thing was silly,

But then, suddenly, maybe it wasn't so silly...

Axel remembered that conversation he had with Isa all those years ago, nearly 10 years ago to be exact. It was of a girl that they had tried to rescue. The entire reason him and Isa had even joined Ansem's Research team in the first place. His heart started to beat faster. Was this that girl? He could not even remember what she looked like by this point, so much had happened between than and now.

Axel then spoke up, feeling a sense of fear and longing. "This girl... I think I know her."

Kairi looked at him in surprise. "You... know her?" Her face clearly sending him a look that said 'Explain!!'

"It was nearly 20 years ago now, my memory of it all is a little fuzzy," Axel said as he tried to recall his past, "but when I was young, Isa and I saw this little girl in Ansem the Wises care. We knew something was up though because she was being held captive in his research lab. Isa and I vowed then to try and save her, but we could just go into the lab, you see. We needed to join the team. But we had no interest in the research ansem was conducting."

"We searched for as long as we could , but still couldn't find the girl, and then before we knew it, the research team? Well it became Organization 13. Isa and I, and everyone else was turned into nobodies and then finding the girl wasn't a priority anymore."

Kairi listened quietly and thought for a moment. "But, what if she's still out there somewhere?"

Axel scoffed. "It's been over 20 years. I have no idea where she is now," and it was true. He couldn't even remember what she looked like or her name, only that she had a sad frown and desperately needed help. His heart hurt at the memory of her.

"But she could still be alive! Out there somewhere, maybe she's even waiting for you to find her!" Kairi said feeling with all her heart that something just was not adding up. That this could be fixed and maybe friends could be reunited after all these years.

Axel looked at Kairi in a mix of shock and awe. "But even if I wanted to go looking for her, I have no idea where to start!"

Kairi then shook her head and smiled determinedly. "It's written clearly on the pages. Who would have the answers to the little girl in question? Well, The research team that was experimenting on her of course! We could call Ienzo and ask if he has any knowledge of this girl!" Kairi finished feeling like they were really on to something huge. She looked back to Axel and her expression softened.

"What is lost can always be found again Axel," Kairi said and placed her hand on his to reassure him. "We just gotta know the right places to look."

Axel then smiled and nodded. "Alright, we can look for her. But - until then, we still need to find Sora!" He said remembering why they were even in this dusty attic in the first place.

Kairi smiled right back at him, and knew they would both find their friends eventually. "Right!" They then continued to search the attic for clues.

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Riku had eventually found himself back at Sora's bedroom and stood in the doorway. His hand resting on the doorframe as he looked into the empty room with a frown.

He had searched all over but still could not find Sora at all. Riku had become more increasingly worried as time had stretched on and found himself walking back to Sora's room unconsciously.

He stepped through the threshold and closed the door behind him.

He supposed it was humorous in some way. Sora had been missing for 10 years, and had been back but only one day before suddenly becoming missing again. He smiled weakly and shook his head, thinking only Sora could manage something like that.

Riku tried to quell his anxieties and force himself into a weird sense of confidence that Sora was totally fine where ever he was, but he just couldn't help but feel that trickling sensation of worry eat away at his heart.

He found himself looking out the window of Sora's room, to the vast field of endless trees and his heart longed for Sora's to return to him. Riku placed his hands on the windowsill and sighed, closing his eyes.

'Where did you go, Sora?' He thought to himself.

Riku opened his eyes again, and looked back to the sea of trees.

He blinked as he saw something new, in the array of greenery of the Forrest that was not there before and he let out a surprised sound.

It was a small lake in a little clearing, not to far from the tower, but Riku had definitely never seen this landmark before. His heart leaped in his chest as he immediately knew Sora had to be there, and quickly turned and ran from Sora's bedroom and out of the Tower.

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Sora sighed breathlessly into Vanitas' mouth and moaned softly, his hands tightly fisted in Vanitas' hair as he let himself go to the sensations rushing through his body. Vanitas was half on top of Sora's chest as they continued to kiss, Sora's back flat on the plush grass below them. Vanitas' hand had disappeared into Sora's pajama pants and was currently rubbing and touching him firmly, pulling sweet mewls and cries from the smaller male in earnest.

Sora's hips bucked up into Vanitas' touch at a particularly blissful sensation and bit Vanitas' bottom lip gently as he moaned.

Vanitas continued to devour Sora's mouth, absolutely enthralled by his pleasure. He wanted Sora to make all sorts of noises and faces for him. He wondered just how much pleasure Sora could take and Vanitas could feel his own want throb. It was electrifying.

His hand started to move faster on Sora, moving his arm up and down quickly as he swallowed all of Sora's cries. His movements being driven on pure lust and determination.

Through the thick fog, Sora reached down blindly and grasped Vanitas' wrist tightly, pulling his hand away from his most special place. He turned away from Vanitas' lips and caught his breath.

Vanitas huffed and blew his own hair out of his eyes after being stopped. "What's wrong, Sora?" He said and his voice was thick and graveling, shooting straight down Sora's spine.

Sora eventually looked up to him with his face flushed. "..Want you.. Vani.." he looked at Vanitas' lips again and bit his own subconsciously.

Vanitas then grinned wickedly, all teeth showing as he sat up, feeling prideful that Sora wanted more of him even though he was already being pleasured and moved around to Sora's legs. He quickly removed Sora's sleep pants and hoisted both of Sora's legs up and held them together, straight along his chest with Sora's feet hanging above his shoulder.

Sora sighed happily at being pulled around, and let his hands fall above his head in the grass as he watched Vanitas man handle him.

Vanitas continued to grin down at him, one arm clutching Sora's legs to his chest as his free hand rubbed down Sora's skin. When it got down to Sora's hip, Vanitas pushed himself closer to Sora's backside and felt that rush when Sora made a pleased noise through his breath, knowing that Sora wanted him to continue.

Vanitas then moved his own clothing out of the way and pushed into Sora steadily, his hand coming back to hold Sora's legs as he thrusted into him.

Sora let his head fall back and moaned loudly, panting as he felt Vanitas, thick and heavy, push inside of him. He pushed down against him, wanting more.

Vanitas started open mouth kissing Sora's calf and tongued the skin, looking down at him with molten eyes. His hand slid down Sora's thigh to his center warmth and grasped him tightly, his fist making small strokes. Vantias smirked as Sora arched his back and he felt his tongue slip out of his lips in concentration as Sora's moans and cries spurred him on further.

Sora felt his legs starting to fall, unable to hold them up properly as the pleasure inside him grew. Vanitas then released his hold on them and slipped between them as Sora let his legs fall open.

Sora moaned as Vanitas was now able to reach inside of him further, and felt him push into his body harder. It excited Sora to think about Vanitas being rough with him and reached his hand out to pull Vanitas down on top of him.

Vanitas smirked again and fell over Sora's awaiting body as he continued to thrust into him, his hands on either side of Sora's head as he leaned down and brought their lips together again.

Sora's hands immediately were in his hair again and he panted in pleasure.

"Vani ... Yes, please ..," he panted against Vanitas' lips and squeezed his legs tighter around his partner.

Vanitas groaned and reached his hand to Sora's hair and pulled Sora's head back to reveal his tantalizing neck. Vanitas leaned down and pressed his lips to the skin, sinking his teeth into the junction of Sora's neck and shoulder, the extreme pleasure cresting and blinding them both.

Sora cried out and let himself go. There was not a single negative emotion within him, he was completely and utterly at peace here with Vanitas. He smiled blissfuly as Vanitas let himself go as well, feeling happy Vanitas was feeling just as good as he was in that moment. Sora then reach up and caressed a hand on Vanitas' cheek tenderly, and kissed him softly.

Vanitas sighed into the kiss, feeling boneless. He lazily licked at Sora's lips and smiled when Sora bit him playfully.

This was absolute heaven, Vanitas thought, completely relaxed. Nothing could ruin this for them.

A heavy thump beside them alerted the pair that they were not alone suddenly and Vanitas felt anger at what he saw, and Sora gasped in fear under him.

Another unversed nightmare had spawned. A fat, but angry looking meow wow spirit. It rolled around in the grass silently, and looked at them with its violent red eyes. Sora shrunk back in Vanitas' hold, fearful.

'Guess thats one way to ruin everything', Vanitas thought bitterly as he stared at the creature with loathing.

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	5. Chapter 5

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The unversed nightmare continued to roll around in silence.

Vanitas removed himself from Sora's embrace to sit up properly. He felt Sora scoot away to distance himself from the newly spawned creature in front of them. They both looked at it with contempt and distain.

The unversed nightmare continued to roll around on its back with its tongue out. It made soft noises and kicked its paws in the air, unknowing that its mere existence displeased its creator in such a way.

Vanitas growled in frustration. "What do you want to do with it?" He asked finally, turning his head to look at Sora, who was hiding behind Vanitas like he was a shield. Vanitas felt a flicker of satisfaction at that thought.

Sora continued to watch the creature with his tear filled eyes. "Don't kill it please," he said after a moment, knowing that it would only hurt him.

Vanitas shook his head. "Well we cant just leave it."

Sora frowned as he watched the unversed meow wow continue to roll around aimlessly.

"Why not?" He asked and Vanitas just looked back at him, not really knowing himself. "We are in a dream aren't we?"

Vanitas thought for a moment. He supposed, if no one else could see them here, what harm could they be to simply exist in this realm? Letting them exist was something Vanitas hated to do himself, as seeing physical proof of his uncontrolled emotions made him feel weak. But, if Sora was okay with letting live... letting them exist... could it be possible to keep them inside this metaphysical plane?

Suddenly without any warning, Sora was then abruptly woken up from his dreamscape by a searing blinding pain. Excruciating agony coursed through his veins and he cried out, curling in on himself and tried hopelessly to minimize the hurt.

He cried, sobs choking him. What in the world had just happened? It was like when Vanitas had killed the original unversed, only twice as painful. He shook his head and let his tears fall, as he let the pain wash over him.

Vanitas was there within his heart, and tried to shush Sora and calm him down. Vanitas knew then that someone else had just killed the other two Unversed from earlier, and that was what had caused Sora to feel all this agony two fold. He sighed and started to pull Sora back into his dream world again, ready to take all his pain away from him.

"Sora!" A voice from the distance called out, and Vanitas cursed under his breath and seeped back into Sora's heart, hiding away as two figures approached.

"Sora!!" Two voices then called out and Sora was instantly swept up in a group hug. He choked a sob back as he saw it was Roxas and Xion.

"Sora! Are you okay?" Xion asked, concern written all over her face, and Roxas' brows furrowed.

"We we're looking everywhere for you, You had us all worried sick!" Roxas said feeling relieved now that his other was found. Safe and sound.

Sora frowned and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I-I'm ... s-sorry..." he said, stuttering. He felt awful for making them worry! That was never Sora's intention!

More unversed then had started to spawn in a cluster, as Sora felt himself loose control. Instantly Roxas and Xion turned ready to fight back, their keyblades being summoned into their hands.

"Sora, Watch out! These things are dangerous!" Roxas yelled and him and Xion both started to swing at the creatures with their keyblades, missing them by mere inches as they hopped and danced away from their slashes.

Sora felt horror seep into his veins as he saw the cluster of unversed. Roxas and Xion were going to kill them, all of them. Sora shook his head and panicked, scooting back on his behind for a few feet, before quickly standing and running away in a blind panic.

He felt the pain collide with his senses abruptly and knew instantly one of the unversed had met its demise. Sora almost fell to his knees mid step and choked back a pained gasp. He quickly stood again, shaking in pain and tears silently pouring from his eyes as he continued to run away in terror.

Roxas and Xion has seen, and now were destroying the things. They knew now. Sora couldn't fathom what their next reaction would be. All he felt was dread and dismay and the never ending scorching agony ripple through him.

He tripped multiple times as he couldn't see through his own tears and when each unversed was killed and forced back into him, he would slump against the thick trees in desperation.

He finally collapsed in a daze of exhaustion, when it felt like the pain was finally ending, and leaned on a thick tree trunk. He sobbed and held onto the trunk for dear life.

Vanitas then appeared beside him and shushed him, gently pulling Sora back into the dream world with him. He kissed Sora softly and Sora instantly kissed back and pressed his lips to Vanitas' harder, wanting relief from the everlasting torture, and let his hands fly up to Vanitas neck.

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Riku hurried to the lake clearing with his heart thundering in his chest. He had arrived to hear a commotion and saw that it was not Sora , but Roxas and Xion, who were fighting familiar black creatures back with their keyblades.

Riku summoned his keyblade Braveheart, and swung at the creatures with disgust, slicing one into dust.

"Riku!" Xion said as she noticed him. Roxas then looked up and noticed him too, after slashing the last creature down.

Riku looked around and saw no more creatures and sighed. "Did you find Sora?" He had hoped with all his heart he was here, but it seemed like it was not the case.

Roxas and Xion then looked around and noticed Sora was now gone.

"He was just here a minute ago!" Xion said as she looked worried.

"He was here?" Riku then asked and felt a rush of happiness at hearing Sora was still here and had not left the world somehow.

"We must have gotten separated when fighting those things," Roxas said in distain for the creatures they had been fighting.

"You mean the Unversed?" Riku asked as he looked around for more of them, feeling like some would just show up.

"Unversed?" Roxas and Xion said at the same time, neither of them having heard of it before.

"Yes." Riku replied with disdain. "The Unversed are dark creatures, and they have been spawning in mass numbers recently. It's been steadily getting harder to fight them back as time had went on. They would just show up in small bursts randomly, seemingly attacking without any real cause, and recently they were gathering much more frequently."

Roxas looked puzzled. "We haven't seen them before... You fight them a lot?"

Riku nodded. "I have been fighting them back for... well almost years now actually... It wasn't a big deal at first, only a few would show up and I was able to fight them back, but more and more kept reappearing. I thought I could handle them on my own, but I was wrong. I eventually returned to Mickey and Master Yen Sid for help and answers, but then they too were quickly overwhelmed by them. We had no idea where they were coming from, or what they wanted, but then finally Master Yen Sid decided to send Mickey and I into the Realm of Darkness, hoping maybe we could find the key to stopping them there. But... that's when we found Sora instead."

"Mickey left this morning to go try to find more answers about the Unversed. ...I honestly forgot all about them. So much had happened yesterday..." Riku sighed and rubbed his hand over his face.

The unversed were a daily problem of his that he was all too familiar with. Having to fight them back day after day for almost years had been tough on him. He thought he could handle them on his own, being a fully fledged Keyblade Master and all, but they just kept spawning, and so he admitted he needed help finally. Master Yen Sid and Mickey were happy to help but Riku felt like it was wrong to force them to deal with his problems.

Xion looked perplexed. "So, you don't know where they come from, or what they want?"

Riku nodded. "Mickey and Master Yen Sid seem to think it might have something to do with Xehanort, but we were all unsure what that could even mean. Xehanort is supposed to be gone."

Roxas furrowed his brow and frowned. "Don't tell me there are more Norts out there! It's been 10 years! There's no way it could be that old coot!"

"Well, we just don't know yet," Riku replied, but hoped it wasn't another Xehanort plot as well. He had dealt with enough Xehanorts for one life time. Thirteen was far too many!

"I assume that Mickey left for Radiant Garden to seek more of Ansem the Wises' research. Hopefully when he comes back maybe he will have some more answers for us." Riku finished and looked between Xion and Roxas both.

Xion looked determined, "We will just have to be careful if those Unversed spawn again," She said.

Roxas nodded and replied, "We should find Sora and go back to the tower quickly then."

Riku nodded to them both, agreeing. The three of them then turned and started to run deeper into the Forrest to find their lost friend.

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Vanitas was seated on the plush green grass against a tree trunk with Sora tucked in his lap with his back pressed against his chest, as Vanitas proceeded to take away Sora's hurt. His hands were down in between Sora's legs, as Sora leaned back into his embrace with quiet gasps. He felt his own breath become labored at the sights and sounds Sora was making, as Sora slowly let himself go to Vanitas' touch.

The unversed nightmare creation was still with them again, the fat round black creature just roaming around aimlessly before setting its sights on chasing a butterfly nearby.

Sora's head vanished into the crook of Vanitas neck and he slowly started to feel better as Vanitas touched him. He held a hand in Vanitas' hair and panted for breath when Vanitas started to move his hand faster on him.

Vanitas then used his free hand to reach down to touch Sora's opening softly and Sora then mewled in his ear in pleasure. Vanitas turned his head in and kissed Sora, locking their lips together and their tongues meeting and molding around each other as he swallowed Sora's cries and let his hands work at Sora harder.

Sora arched his back and whined loudly into Vanitas' mouth as he orgasmed, his hand tightening in Vanitas hair, and Vanitas just held him closer as his hands continue to push Sora into oblivion. It was intoxicating.

Vanitas hummed and rocked both of them softly as Sora then relaxed against him, limp like jelly, and he felt his heart do flip-flops at it all.

Sora was just so much, and so good. He loved this. He loved Sora. Compared to his old life, of being beaten and abused daily by Master Xehanort after being forcibly ripped from his better half Ventus, and then unsuccessfully trying to reforge that union with him...

This new union with Sora was something completely new and different. Special. For once, having his own special slice of paradise with one of life's greatest pleasures with Sora was an absolute dream come true that he never knew he even wanted until he had it. And now he would fight to keep it. This new life with Sora. He would do anything to keep Sora with him.

Sora was his. As he was now Sora's. Sora was his better half now.

Another Unversed Nightmare suddenly appeared next the first one, another fat black blob with red eyes and cat like ears, and soon it turned and started to play with its new counterpart. Vanitas paid them no mind though as he continued to nuzzle Sora lovingly and he rocked them gently, feeling completely at ease.

As if on cue though, Riku's voice suddenly called out for Sora amidst the fog, which in turn woke Sora up from their little slice of paradise. Vanitas growled in annoyance but returned to Sora's heart, begrudgingly.

Sora blinked as his world came back into focus and felt Riku's arms on his shoulders shaking them.

"Sora, wake up! Are you alright?" Riku spoke worriedly as Sora then moved to sit up. Sora rubbed his eyes and looked around, seeing Xion and Roxas right behind Riku looking equally as worried.

Sora frowned sadly knowing everyone was worried about him. "I'm sorry for making everyone worry about me," he hugged his arms around himself and crossed his legs in the grass. Riku was knelt down beside him and looked on while his heart ached.

"Why did you run off this morning Sora? Did something happen?" Riku asked running a hand on Sora's shoulder to comfort him, and felt Roxas and Xion move beside him to kneel down as well.

Sora turned his head down. He bit his bottom lip. "I... I had another nightmare," He whispered, feeling guilty for lying, but Riku quickly swooped him up in a big hug.

"Sora! It will be okay! you don't have to be afraid anymore alright? We're all here for you and we will all keep you safe. Remember what Kairi said all those years ago? Let us keep you safe this time. If you have another nightmare just come to one of us instead of running away, Okay?" Riku said as he hugged Sora to him and Sora could see Xion and Roxas behind him agreeing with twin smiles.

Sora smiled back softly and melted into Riku's hug with a sigh, feeling relieved and happy.

"Okay." He said and hugged Riku back. He was glad everyone was not mad at him for the stunt he pulled, and was relieved they believed his lie, but he could feel a sense of worry trickle about what he would do the next time the creatures decided to show up.

Sora winced then as he started to feel a head ache come on and removed himself from Riku's hug.

"Let's go back to the tower, huh?" Sora smiled weakly and gestured for everyone to get up. Roxas and Xion turned and made their way back together as Riku and Sora hung back for a moment. Sora took his time and stood slowly but then held a hand to his forehead with a frown once he was upright. His headache worsening by the minute.

Riku raised an eyebrow at him. "You alright?" He asked.

"Just a little headache I guess.." Sora rubbed his temple and Riku grabbed his free hand then.

"Come on, we can go get you some aspirin and a nice big glass of water to hydrate your body, and then we could relax for the day since you've been having trouble sleeping." Riku smiled at him softly and started to lead them to the tower. Sora felt his heart flutter at Riku's attentive nature.

"O-Okay Riku.." he smiled and followed along, and held Riku's hand tighter.

Vanitas brooded and pouted as he watched the whole thing. He could have thought of that too, if he, well thought about it. Stupid Riku. With his stupidly good ideas. Vanitas has to admit everything Riku had done so far was only for Sora's benefit but that didn't mean it didn't piss him off. He watched silently and stewed in his distaste.

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Sora took a tentative sip of the water. It did not taste bad like the food he had previously tried to eat and he was silently thankful for that as he took his aspirin and drank deeply from the glass. He quickly finished the cup and made to fill it a second time, before drinking that too. He breathed when he was done feeling better now that he was hydrated and then put a third glass full on the nightstand.

Riku watched him as Sora settled into bed, ready to let Sora nap for a while by himself, but Sora then called out to him.

"Riku wait, will you lay with me again?" He asked and patted the bed beside him, looking hopeful. He wanted to be in Riku's company and didn't quite want him to leave just yet.

Riku smiled and toed off his shoes and removed his jacket before climbing in to bed with Sora.

Vanitas grumbled to himself within Sora's heart, feeling a little Hurt. He was hoping to be able to be with Sora again now that they were back in his bedroom, but Sora seemed to want Riku more than him right now.

Instead of letting himself be sad at that idea, Vanitas just became more determined to show Sora he was better than Riku was. Vanitas gave Sora something that Riku wasn't giving him, and that would be his advantage.

Sora and Riku both relaxed on the bed and turned on their sides to face one another. Sora smiled at Riku happily, feeling at peace for a moment with his best friend. They started to talk and laugh with each other for a few hours, just enjoying each other's company. Time bled on into the evening as they lounged together lazily.

"I really missed you Riku, I thought about you every day while I was in the abyss, and I'm glad we are together once again," Sora said then amidst their smiles and he nuzzled into his pillow happily.

Riku's eyes softened, "I thought of you everyday too, Sora. I just knew one day you'd come back to us. I just had no idea you were actually suffering for all that time. If I had known, I would have dove in to safe you all those years ago. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."

Sora shook his head at that and reached for him, scooting closer under the covers. "Riku, no, you don't have to be sorry. You couldn't have of known. I didn't even know exactly where I was. But I'm glad you came when you did. Your light saved me Riku. If you had not have shown up, I would still be down there." He hugged Riku then and smiled when Riku's arms wrapped around him. He felt his heart flutter as he snuggled into Riku's embrace affectionately.

Riku put his chin on Sora's head and held him close, enjoying this new closeness they shared. They had hugged and cuddled before but this was nicer then all those times. The two felt save in each other's arms completely at ease.

"I'm glad too, Sora," Riku whispered into his hair and held him a little tighter.

Vanitas watched them in silent jealousy. He wasn't able to save Sora from the abyss completely. He was only capable of trying to minimize Sora's hurt while they were both down there. He frowned when he noted that, if it hadn't been for Riku, they both still would have been there. And while it would have been nice for Vanitas to have constant access to Sora when ever he chose , Sora would just be in more and more constant pain. Never ending, pausing for brief moments, only to resume on continually in a everlasting torture.

He didn't want that for Sora. So he supposed, he was grateful for Riku. But it angered him all the same. Riku was the cause and effect. Vanitas sighed as he turned away from them to think.

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It was nearing supper again and the two friends existed the bed room finally to join the main group. Sora sat down slowly at the head of the table again as he looked at tonight's meal with worry. Would he be able to eat this time? He dished himself a medium portion, as everyone started to dig into their own plates, and attempted to try the food again. He could smell all the delicious flavors and his mouth watered. He scooped up a forkful and took a bite.

Nauseating. He struggled to swallow and sighed reaching for his water glass, thankful to be able to at least take a drink without it tasting like charcoal in his throat.

Riku watched him curiously from under his bangs as he ate his own food.

Sora forced himself to eat another bite, knowing it wouldn't look very good to not eat two days in a row. He tried not to look too disgusted as he ate the stuff. It was like tar in his mouth, and it made him want to gag. He continued to drink his water and shovel the substance into his mouth, wanting to be finished as soon as possible. His stomach hurt when he was finished and he sat back just as everyone else had also cleared their plates.

"Hey Sora now that we're done with dinner, do you wanna play a board game with us maybe?" Kairi then asked. She felt happy her friend finally was eating but noted he seemed like he might be under the weather. She hoped it was just a stomach bug, and not this 'darkness' taking a hold on him or something like Mickey had spoken of. She could see the bags under his eyes and her heart ached for her friend.

Sora frowned and winced. His stomach was not agreeing with what he just ate, and his headache from earlier was steadily becoming worse. He shook his head.

"Sorry but... I think I'm going to go to try to get some sleep actually," Sora said as he stood rubbed his forehead and his eyes, the head ache and tummy troubles making him feel a little irritable, and he wanted to relax himself. "I'm pretty tired honestly.. We could play something tomorrow maybe?" He said and gave them a fake smile.

The group all nodded at Sora and allowed him to go. Sora then bid them goodnight and left the dining hall swiftly. Once he was in the hallways he started to rush up the stairs of the main tower to his room, feeling bile in the back of his throat.

He burst through his room and rushed to the connecting bathroom, and threw up everything into the toilet. He gagged as thick, black tar like substance dripped from his mouth. He felt a flair of fear at the sight. He cried as he forced the rest out of his system and then suddenly another unversed spawned in the bathroom with him.

Sora stared at it weakly, as he panted for breath and wiped a hand over his mouth. The unversed stared back at him with its red eyes. It made no move to attack him though.

Sora sat back from the toilet and huffed, feeling defeated. He reached for the creature and just hugged it to his chest as he started to cry. His sobs wracking his whole body as he just let all his emotions spill out. Sora hugged the unversed tightly as he cried, and then suddenly it vanished into his body.

Sora felt complete and utter sadness return to him, but not the same blinding pain as all those times before when an unversed has met its demise. His body shook with his cries as he fell back in the bathroom floor in anguish and his body then shut its self down in exhaustion.

Vanitas was ready to pull Sora into a dream as soon as he fell unconscious and was ready to take care of his suffering better half.

The original two Unversed Nightmares had returned with the revisit to the dreamscape, and they both chased each other playfully before moving to play in the bathtub.

Soon, Vanitas and Sora would make a third one.

Sora let his pleasure wash over him as Vanitas took his time helping him, being gentle and loving.

They rocked together on the floor softly, Sora clutching onto Vanitas for dear life as he let himself shake with his orgasm, while Vanitas pressed deep inside of him.

The bliss taking the hurt away momentarily, and they kissed softly, moaning quietly into each other's mouths.

Sora frowned into the kiss when he felt his headache worsen and then suddenly, he's woken up again from his dream, by Riku shaking him awake.

"Sora ! Sora!! Are you alright??"

He must have looked a sight , collapsed on the bathroom in front of the toilet , with tears on his face and hair disheveled.

Sora frowned and shook his head, with tears starting to form in his eyes. "My head hurts.. and I'm nauseous.. I don't feel good."

Riku scooped him up in his arms and brought Sora to his bed. "You might have a migraine. Just relax now Sora. It's okay." He was whispering and moved to cover Sora with the blankets. Sora then grabbed Riku's wrist and pulled him into the bed with him.

"Stay with me please." He moaned pitifully and Riku's heart ached. He gladly wrapped his arms around Sora and held him close, spooning him comfortably on their sides. Riku kisses the back of Sora's head and whispers in his ear, "Rest now Sora and dream sweet dreams okay? I'm here with you."

Sora snuggles into his warmth and sighs through the pain of his headache. He lets his mind go blank as sleep claimed him finally. He doesn't dream at all that night though, as the sheer exhaustion from today simply forbade him from dreaming at all.

Vanitas watched with frustration. Riku is holding Sora like Vanitas should be! Why did he have to wake Sora up! Sure the bathroom floor wasn't the best place to sleep but it still pissed Vanitas off. He sighed bitterly and turned away from them wanting to distract himself. He then watched the three meow wow creatures roll around with each other, playing. One then turned and jumped up to Vanitas and he looked at it with disgust.

"Go away you freak." He said angrily. The meow wow butted it's head on Vanitas' hand, but he pushed it away. There was an immediate reaction from Sora in the bed as he made a small sound of discomfort in the back of his throat. Vanitas looked back to Sora at the noise and frowned. He slowly connected the dots and put his hand back out and pet the black creature softly. It nuzzled him back happily. He could hear Sora release a sigh in relaxation and Vanitas felt his heart melt at the sound.

He supposed...these nightmare unversed 'things' were not all bad. He had never... pet an unversed before. He rubbed its back softly for a while, and lost himself in thought as a small smile unknowingly appeared on his face.

He continued to pet it and looked back to Sora, knowing then that Riku couldn't take all the glory of helping Sora from him. He hugged the meow wow and it squished happily into his hold, as it was enjoying the love and attention it was receiving. He would continue to pet all of them well into the night and smiled knowing Sora was finally feeling at Peace again. If only for a moment.

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	6. Chapter 6

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Mickey soon found himself in Radiant Garden after a days worth of a travel in his Gummy Ship. He was there to find more answers to their current problem. The Unversed problem that is.

Mickey and Master Yen Sid were deeply troubled by the resurgence of the Unversed. Unversed spawning could only mean that their creator, Vanitas, was around. Mickey was all too familiar with the man that called himself Darkness.

Mickey walked into Ansem the Wises old research lab and began to search through the pages of text he had in storage. He needed to find some sort of answers here. Anything he could look up about Unversed and Vanitas was drawn up, which wasn't much.

Mickey's main worry was about what Vanitas' intentions were. He remembered the fight they had all those years ago, when he and Master Aqua had fought against the combined being of Ventus-Vanitas and shook his head at the memory of the cross bred fusion. Vanitas has managed to join with Ventus to forge the X-Blade to summon Kingdom Hearts. But Master Aqua has managed to defeat him and destroy the X-Blade before he could achieve his goal of opening it. Although he was presumed dead at this point, this would not be the last time they fought Vanitas again.

They next time anyone had seen him, it was more recently, in the Keyblade Graveyard again, but when Sora had first disappeared nearly 10 years ago. The mere sight of him then caused confusion and worry within their ranks, but Master Yen Sid deduced that Vanitas must have also had his heart taken and forced through time to be there, like the rest of the Real Organization Thirteen members were.

Vanitas' heart, once it had reached their current time was then placed in a replica body, and then once that destroyed, Vanitas was then sent back to his own time, where he became the x-blade and was defeated by Master Aqua. Mickey had assumed like everyone else, that Vanitas had just passed on finally after all of that, but Master Yen Sid was not too sure.

Many years later, once Riku had came to them with Unversed at his heels, Mickey and Master Yen Sid began to worry about the possibility of Vanitas' survival and return, and possibly even Master Xehanort showing up along with him.

They did not tell Riku about Vanitas. Master Yen Sid firmly believed Riku did not need to be privy to that information, thinking it would only confuse and possibly even sway Riku back to darkness. Riku was far to busy with his own far-fetched dream of rescuing Sora at the time, and didn't need to worry himself with the look-alike of darkness. That would be too much for him, they had feared.

Mickey had then suggested that maybe, Vanitas was still alive after everything, and was out there somewhere, possibly cloaked by an greater darkness.

Vanitas' darkness had all but consumed him, as he had fought tooth and nail to become the sacred X-Blade with Ventus all those years ago. But they just didn't know where to begin to look for him now in their own time.

This was when Master Yen Sid had the sound idea to send Mickey into the realm of darkness, to search in even the darkest depths of the Darkness to look for a key to a solution.

Maybe Vanitas had been banished to the Realm of Darkness instead of just "disappearing" after his death, as it certainly seemed plausible. He claimed himself to be pure darkness himself, so why not be cast into it upon his demise?

Mickey prepared himself to go alone to search for this 'key' but Riku had immediately wanted to go along with Mickey too, having been partnered with him for many years and knowing they could face the darkness together. Reluctantly, Master Yen Sid agreed and sent them both on their way.

When they had arrived within the darkness, Mickey was instantly on high alert as anything could happen in that realm. And sure enough, they found something alright, and not just any something, but the exact 'key' they needed.

When Sora first appeared out from the darkness, Mickey instantly felt frightened by the sight of him. Cloaked in a dark fabric with glowing purple eyes, Sora summoned the familiar keyblade, Soul Eater into his right hand. A single Gazing Eye in the center of the hilt stood out proudly within the darkness, and Sora stood ready to fight and strike Riku down, but then during their continued commotion, Sora summoned a second keyblade in his left hand and Mickey suddenly felt a sense of dread well up inside him at the sight of it.

It was Vanitas' keyblade. Voidgear. A specific blade, with Two Gazing eyes along its length. Mickey was instantly taken aback by the revelation, seeing physical proof that Vanitas did indeed still exist, and was immediately worried for what that could mean for Sora.

Was Vanitas controlling Sora somehow? Similar to how he was with Ventus all those years ago? They were not sure what any of this could mean. Once Mickey had arrived back at the mysterious tower with the group, he had rushed off to tell the Master what had transpired.

Master Yen Sid wanted more answers though. They would wait for Master Aqua, Terra and Ventus to return and question them about Vanitas as they were the ones who had to deal with him before. They would have knowledge about him that no one else could give them.

The Master then decided that Mickey could search Ansem the Wises' research in the mean time, and see if maybe he had some insights of his own to bring to the table.

When Mickey was ready to leave for radiant garden, he spoke to Riku and Kairi and asked them to keep their eyes sharp when around Sora just incase they were right about Vanitas controlling him or corrupting him in some way. Hopefully his friends could see if anything really was going on inside his heart.

Mickey sighed as his eyes swept over a page about Vanitas and looked for anything that could give them some answers. Nothing stood out to him though. Standard information on types of unversed, and that Vanitas was the creator, but not much else.

It frustrated Mickey. It was like they had the pieces but couldn't put the puzzle together. They were obviously missing something though, but he couldn't tell what.

He thought back to fighting Vanitas all those years ago with Master Aqua, and thought about Ventus-Vanitas again. He the thought about Sora within the realm of darkness and he frowned when he compared the two.

Sora did not seem to be possessed now though, now that he was free from the realm of darkness. He was still kind to each of his friends, and Vanitas was not capable of any sort of kindness. Mickey nodded his head and knew that Sora was strong, and if Vanitas had messed with him in someway, Sora could figure his way out of it. Somehow and someway.

The door to the research lab opened up and walking through Evan and Ienzo came from the opposite side. Mickey smiled at seeing them.

"Howdy fellas! How is the research going?" Mickey asked feeling at ease with the former organization members who had since turned to the side of the light. Evan and Ienzo looked up in warm regards.

"Ah! Mickey, what a lovely surprise." Ienzo said with a smile. "We both have been meaning to ask you somethings actually if you have a moment?"

"Of course ! Ask away!" Mickey smiled.

Evan spoke up then. "It's about the replica program actually."

Mickey looked surprised. "The replica program?"

Evan smirked and continued, feeling prideful and enthused to speak in detail of something he cared deeply about. "I'm curious as to the results of your friends who have been placed inside the replicas I have created nearly a decade ago. I am looking to perfect the science behind it, as I still feel my replicas were never quite perfect. But I haven't been able to contact any of your friends that are inside of my creations to get their insights into the matter. I feel their own experiences and memories of these past years can help me understand how to make the replicas better in every way."

Mickey seemed interested. "Perfect your replica design huh? Well gosh, you sure like to chase knowledge Evan! I could gladly give you their gummy phone numbers if you would like to speak to my friends immediately, or if you would like, we could all meet up sometime soon for you to discuss your ideas. I know Namine should be arriving at the tower soon, and I'm sure she would be more then happy to assist you!"

Ienzo smiled at their transaction. "See look at that Evan, Mickey is more than willing to help, and all you needed to do was ask him."

Evan smirked again. "Yes I see now. I will gladly meet with my specimens again soon. The data I require is of the utmost importance. Thank you for your time Mickey and I'm sure we will be in touch in the near future. I shall leave you two now, as I must return to my studies." He bowed in respect to them and walked off silently.

Mickey smiled to Ienzo then after Evan was gone. "He sure cares a lot about his passion project! I hope one day he can achieve his dream. His replicas may have been used by evil in the past but now they have been used to help our friends! They can't be all bad right?"

Ienzo smiled and nodded. "Yes Evan is very devoted to his life's work. His magnum opus. Once he completes that perfect replica, he will be complete." He smiled thinking about it.

Ienzo turned to Mickey then, remembering his own research. "I too have been researching things Mickey. And have been wanting to speak to you also. Do you have another moment you can spare?" He asked politely and Mickey nodded.

"This is about the Unversed that you have been telling me about. And the person that you have called Vanitas." Ienzo looked over his notes before beginning his assessment of the situation.

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Kairi and Axel relaxed together in the kitchen as the two of them worked together to make pancakes for the main group for breakfast.

It was the morning of the third day since Sora had returned and Kairi felt concern grow for her friend. She could see he was struggling and she wanted desperately to help. She knew Riku was doing the same and smiled knowingly.

She knew of Riku's long time crush on Sora and the thought made he heart flutter. She wanted both of her friends to be happy, her own crush on Sora had since faded after many years of mourning. She had gotten over him and grieved for him, and had moved on. But she knew that Riku still cared deeply for him. She smiled, feeling things would work out in the end, knowing Riku only wanted to help Sora and wanted him happy.

They all wanted Sora happy.

"Hey, you missed some chocolate chips Kai," Axel grinned at her and threw some more chocolate chips in the pancake batter. She giggled and kept stirring the mix.

"You can never have enough Chocolate!" She poured the mixture into a cup to easily control the flow of pancake batter on the frying pan and started to create the fluffy treats.

"Oooh, do I smell chocolate?" A voice called from the doorway and Axel and Kairi both smiled seeing Roxas enter, with Xion right behind him.

Kairi felt happy looking at the two of them, as they too looked happy together, like Riku and Sora did. Kairi thought maybe Roxas and Xion were even dating, but wasn't going to pry into their relationship. If they were dating, it was up to them to tell others, not for Kairi to go asking and blabbing their business.

Axel grinned at his two best friends and held up his spatula proudly. "Kairi and I made chocolate chip pancakes for everyone! Why don't you go see if Sora and Riku are awake now that we are almost finished?"

Roxas nodded, "Yeah okay I'll go check," and left Xion in the room with them.

Xion smiled and walked up to them, as she watched them make the cakes.

"Could I help?" She asked quietly, and Kairi smiled at her.

"Of course! Here take some of this mix and pour some water in, and then add as many chocolate chips as you want!" She grinned and gave Xion the ingredients.

Xion started to work her own batter and Axel felt his heart swell watching Xion and Kairi bond. He had desperately missed Xion when she was forgotten all those years ago, and Kairi was the one that really helped him see just who he was missing. Kairi sure helped him a lot it seemed and he felt grateful for her.

He remembered how determined Kairi looked to help her friends when they first met, many many years ago. When he attempted to kidnap her, She wasn't gunna just lie down and take it, no sir, Kairi even ran right into a dark portal without even fearing what was on the other side. Kairi's bravery then even impressed him now.

Kairi made Axel feel proud to call her a friend. She was truly strong, even if some people didn't seem to think she did much. She wasn't strong in keyblade fighting, settling for magic and healing instead, but what she lacked in brute strength she gained in confidence to do what was right. Axel even looked up to her as a sort of roll model... well he didn't actually "look up" to her as he was much taller then her and then he chuckled to himself at that thought.

"What's so funny Axel?" She teased, seeing his smile quirk.

"Just thinkin about you shorties here. When are you both going to grow taller? I'm tired of craning my neck down to see you guys!" He grinned and joked and then laughed when Xion pushed him lightly in a joking way.

"You're just really tall Axel, maybe you should shrink down to our size!" Xion laughed and Kairi smiled.

This was fun. Friends and laughing. Enjoying each other's company. Kairi wouldn't have it any other way.

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Roxas opened Sora's bedroom door softly, ready to jump on the bed to wake his Other, but stopped in the doorway when he saw Sora wasn't alone.

Riku was wrapped around Sora protectively, and Roxas didn't know how to feel about that. It's not that he didn't like Riku, but they did have history together. When they had fought in the World that Never Was, they both were fighting each other to protect their most precious thing. Their precious things being the people they treasured most, and Roxas knew Riku cared very deeply for Sora. Just as Roxas cared for Xion.

He sighed looking at two on the bed. He loved Xion but they had never officially gotten together as a typical couple would. Roxas decided he would rather just stay her friend, rather then risking it all by asking her out. She might think it was weird or something, so he chickened out in the end.

He stared at Riku for awhile, and sighed again. Maybe Riku would do what Roxas couldn't and ask his own precious person out, and then Roxas felt his heart warm thinking of Sora being happy. That's all everyone wanted anyway, was Sora's happiness.

He smiled thinking about just that. How that was truly everyone's goal. Sora has crossed over many leaps and bounds to save each and every one of them, and now it was their turn to show Sora just how much everyone cared about him.

Roxas then decided he would talk to Riku later, and find out if Riku was going to ask Sora or not. Roxas felt this weird responsibility to... almost give Riku permission in a way. Sora was his Other after all, and felt a connection to Sora that no one else had with him. He needed to protect him, but knew Riku could do so too in a way he couldn't. He also had a connection with Sora that was much different than anyone else.

He just hoped they would make each other happy.

Roxas smiled ready to wake them up. "Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!! Time to get up you guys! Rise and shine!" Roxas loudly yelled and he hopped on the foot on the bed to jostle the pair inside, laughing.

Riku instantly woke and turned to him, blinking sleep from his eyes. "What happened! is something wrong?"

Sora stretched and yawned cutely. He sat up too and rubbed his eyes. "Roxas? Is it time to get up already?" Sora grumbled, still feeling quite exhausted even after sleeping for so long. He felt his headache return slowly and he moaned softly, rubbing his temple. 'Why hadn't it gone away...?' Sora thought miserably.

"Yeah it's almost noon you guys, and Kairi made everyone chocolate chip pancakes! You'll wanna hurry up before Axel eats them all," Roxas grinned and joked.

Riku moved up off the bed and slipped his shoes back on and then reached for his jacket. He scratched his shoulder and looked back to Sora with a smile.

"I'll go down and make sure he saves some for you Okay? Take your time getting up Sora," he smiled and left Sora with his Other.

Roxas looked back to Sora once Riku had left and felt his eyes soften. Sora looked pretty bad with dark circles under his eyes and his looked tired, like he hadn't had a decent night sleep in years. Roxas felt his heart ache at that.

"Are you okay, Sora?" He asked finally, and could tell Sora was instantly nervous by his question.

"I- I'm fine Roxas.. why do you ask?"

Roxas shook his head and scooted closer to Sora and took his hands into his. Sora looked at him questioningly.

"Are you happy, Sora?"

"...Happy..?" He repeated and cocked his head.

"You haven't looked truly happy since you first arrived here a few days ago... I worry about you, you know." He rubbed his thumbs on the back of Sora's hands.

Sora smiled affectionately. "I am happy Roxas, I'm happy we are all together again. I'm happy you finally have your own body now, I'm happy all my friends got to live and enjoy their lives, finally, after everything..."

Roxas stared into his eyes and could tell he wanted to say more.

Sora sighed. "Things are... different though. I'm not... I'm not the same as I once was. The realm of darkness... it may have effected me more then I anticipated. I..." Sora got a far off look in his eye. "I'm happy, but... there are moments when I'm not. It's like... I don't ..." he sighed.

Roxas didn't push him, and just waited for Sora to finish, idly rubbing Sora's hands with his own comfortingly.

Sora frowned and felt his eyebrows knit together. "What if ... I wasn't supposed to come back Roxas?" He whispered, afraid of his own voice, that even saying the words would confirm his own fears, and send him back to the abyss. "What if I was supposed to stay down there... I cheated fate and stole from death its self. What if... I'm being punished for thinking it could all just go back to how it was..."

"Punished? Sora... you belong here with us. Why would you think that you need to be down there still? You have more than paid the price for your actions. 10 years in the blackness seems almost too cruel for someone as bright as you." He held a hand up and brushed a loose lock of hair out of Sora's eyes and then caressed his face with the back of his hand. His heart hurt to see Sora upset like this. How could Sora think he owed some sort of price for being as sweet and selfless as he was?

Roxas then knew it was exactly that. Sora was the most selfless person he knew. Never thinking about himself and his wants. He always was thinking of others first. He shook his head, and sighed.

Sora's bottom lip wobbled. "I just.. feel like ... I don't belong anymore. Not because of you guys! but... the realm of light... I... the darkness... it..." he struggled to come up with the words to describe how he felt.

Roxas shushed him. "Nonsense Sora. You survived in the abyss and arrived back all in one piece. I think you are meant to be here, otherwise, you would not be here if fate had other plans for you. I don't think you cheated at all. Fate has a written plan for you and you are unknowingly walking the path. You just need to believe in yourself. Your heart will tell you what is right. Can you feel it?" Roxas then placed a hand directly over Sora's heart and smiled when Sora placed his hand over his own. He smiled feeling Sora's heart beat.

"Your heart always will have the answers Sora, you just have to look inside yourself." Roxas finished.

Sora smiled weakly before he felt a tear fall down his face. Roxas sounded just like Riku, and his heart swelled happily at his Other.

"Roxas..."

Roxas smiled back and wiped the tear from Sora cheek and leaned up, and pressed a kiss to Sora's forehead. He squeezed Sora's hand and smiled at him when he sat back. Sora blushed a little but smiled too.

"You are too selfless for your own good. You gotta think about yourself for once. What do you want Sora? What would make you happy? Think about that, and then chase it. You deserve happiness. And I know you'll find it somewhere." Roxas smiled softly.

Sora smiled back more brightly. "Thank you Roxas. I feel better now that I talked to you." He hugged Roxas then and squeezed him tight.

Roxas hugged back and nuzzled Sora's hair. "I'm glad Sora. Now are you ready to get some pancakes?" He grinned and then ruffled Sora's hair when they separated. Sora laughed at his antics and pushed his hand away before nodding.

"Yeah, let's go Roxas."

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	7. Chapter 7

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Vanitas thought about Roxas after Sora and him had walked off to get some breakfast. The Ventus lookalike. He wasn't sure if he liked him or not, and he wasn't sure he liked how comfortable he seemed with Sora as he held him so tenderly.

His words though were what interested Vanitas the most. Sora's happiness. What would make Sora truly happy? Vanitas frowned as he thought about how the unversed were the a main factor in his sadness and knew it was because of him that Sora could even create the things. But if Sora could just stay happy then he wouldn't create the monsters in the first place.

He supposed, if he just kept making Sora happy then, it should be okay, right? Keep minimizing the hurt and everything would be fine. And when Sora did hurt he would be quick to chase it away. Having some hurt sometimes couldn't be all that bad right? He himself knew it's what made him stronger in the end. But the thought of Sora feeling any hurt at all made him feel anxious.

He let himself be distracted from his thoughts though by Sora meeting with his friends in the dining hall once again for another meal.

Sora smiled at everyone as they ate their pancakes happily. He took a single cake and started to take small bites from it. He tried not to feel to upset when the chocolate tasted like tar in his mouth.

This was his fault really, he shouldn't even be allowed to enjoy such sweet treats anymore. He should have never came back from the darkness. No one would have to deal with his problems or the unversed if he just had stayed there and stayed dead to the world.

Before he could wallow in his sadness, Riku suddenly was behind him and placed a warm hand on the back of his neck gently.

"How are the pancakes, Sora? Pretty good? I told you I wouldn't let Axel eat them all." He smirked to the red head who stuck out his tongue in response.

Sora leaned in slightly into Riku's hand and smiled when he noticed it was him.

"It's good yes, Thank you guys." Sora nodded everyone with a small smile. He then noticed everyone else was finishing up their meals quickly.

"Uhm.. Does anyone want help with the dishes?" He asked, wanting to dispose of his plate and not think about the taste anymore.

"I'll help you Sora!" Xion smiled at him and he smiled back and nodded. He moved to clear his own plate and started to pick up everyone else's who was finished, Xion trailing behind with more plates stacked.

As they left to go into the kitchen, Riku had noticed Sora had only ate about half of his pancake, but did not comment on it. He just frowned and clenched his fist by his side as he watched them clear up the table.

Sora started rinsing and washing the plates of the syrup and pancake goo and Xion held a towel open to wipe the dishes dry. The worked like a little machine and quickly finished the chore with ease.

"Thanks for helping Xion," Sora said to her with a small smile.

Xion smiled back. "I'm glad to help in anyway I can. It's nice to help friends out."

Sora agreed. "It is nice to help friends! Team work makes the dream work!" He said and laughed.

Xion giggled at him. "That's cute, I haven't heard that before. Can I 'steal' it from you?" She made cheeky smile at him.

Sora laughed at her little inside joke about stealing and nodded. "You can have it!"

Even if Xion was originally created to steal his memories from him, she was her own person now, just like everyone else. Her heart was her own, and no one else's.

Xion laughed too and then looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you need help with anything else Sora?" She questioned wanting to help more.

Sora blinked and held a hand to his chin, thinking. "Help..? Hmm I don't think I need help for anything right now.."

Xion hummed. "Well if you do need help, all you gotta do is ask okay?"

Sora smiled softly and hugged her then. "Thanks Xion. I'm really glad you're my friend."

Xion smiled too and hugged him back feeling happy. "I'm glad you're my friend too Sora."

Kairi then suddenly came rushing in the kitchen with ragged breath like she ran all the way here.

"Sora-! Xion-! Namine is here!!! Come on!!" Kairi yelled and then ran back out of the room in a frantic rush to get to her Other. Somebody was excited it seemed.

Xion looked to Sora with a huge smile. "Namine! Come on Sora, let's go welcome her!"

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Namine was instantly the center of attention. Everyone was so excited for her to be back finally. She smiled brightly at everyone and hugged each one of her friends close.

"Sora." She smiled brightly to him when she reached him and he felt his heart melt after seeing her again after everything.

"Namine!" He smiled and felt himself start to cry happy tears. She finally was alive again after everything. He couldn't believe it. He was so happy for her.

She smiled and wiped them from his eyes. "Do you want to go color some pictures together, Sora? I brought some of my art supplies if you would like to do that with me?"

Sora beamed. "That sounds so fun! Yes Namine! Lets go!" Namine smiled back and held out her hand for Sora to take and the pair then walked back outside to bask in the sunlight of the day. Namine was only interested in talking to Sora specifically right now, as she had seen her other friends many times in the past. They could wait while she bonded with Sora for a moment alone.

"Where should we go, Sora?" She asked looking around for a good spot to relax in.

Sora smiled and knew the perfect spot. "Come on! I know a really special place we can go!" Together they walked to the familiar special lake that Sora had found before and Namine smiled seeing the crystal clear water shine in the sunlight. She breathed in the fresh air and nodded.

"This is perfect." She sat down on the plush grass and pulled out her sketch books and colored pencils. "Here Sora, you can color on this." She handed one of the pads to him.

He smiled and sat beside her against a tree, taking the sketch pad into his lap before deciding on what to draw.

Namine then started to color her own picture silently. The pair sat in the comfortable silence as the scratching of their pencils over their papers carried off into the breeze. They could hear birds chirping happily in the distance.

Vanitas allowed himself to sit beside the pair, invisible to them, as he was technically within his own dream world inside of Sora's heart. Seemingly on the same plane of existence as them, but separate in his own world, placed like a filter over top of a lens.

Vanitas watched as Sora's Unversed Nightmare creatures sprouted with him as he manifested, the small black meow-wows rolling happily in the new surface of the grass. He reached out to pet one and then smiled when he heard Sora make a delighted sound.

Sora sighed happily as he felt his headache lessen slightly. He could tell Vanitas was watching over him and could sense he was trying to make him feel better. His heart swelled and his smile widened when thinking about Vanitas caring for him so.

Sora idly drew a heart on his paper, without really thinking about it, and he then traced it with his finger thoughtfully. He then picked up a black colored pencil and began to draw intricate squares within the heart he had made and when he was done he smiled seeing the heart with checkered like spots.

A heart intertwined, dark and light.

It looked like a chess board, equal parts black and white crisscrossing over the center. He placed his hand on it affectionately. This was how he felt his heart must have looked like, now that Vanitas was inside of him. They were interwoven together, tied tightly together like a lattice. Vanitas had fused with him in a way no heart ever truly had before.

When Sora's own heart was a make-shift 'heart hotel' at one point, holding many hearts inside of him, they had never fused with him like the way Vanitas had. Each of those hearts had stayed separated from his, in their own compartments.

Vanitas though, had fused and melded with Sora. It was different. They completed each other almost. In ways no one else ever could.

Sora looked back to the lake with a small smile as he thought about his other half affectionately.

Vanitas felt his own heart leap when he saw his better half look so damned happy. It was the best gift anyone had ever given him, and Sora didn't even know he was giving it. Vanitas continued to pet the black unversed blobs as he watched Sora and Namine continue to draw their pictures.

Vanitas thought about Namine then. The girl was different then the other two females he noted. She was quieter, more resigned. He could tell she probably had much she wanted to say though. Vanitas watched as she then turned and seemed to almost look directly at him then, right into his eyes. Into his soul. He looked away uncomfortably and shook his head, thinking he imagined it. There was no way she could see him after all.

He continued to play idly with the three meow-wows silently.

Sora smiled brightly when he was done with his picture. "Ta-da!" He said and held it for Namine to look at.

She smiled as she looked at his many doodles. She noted the checkered heart, and saw a bright rainbow in the background over a crystal clear body of water with a smiling sun high in the sky, wearing sunglasses. She smiled at how cute it was.

"This is beautiful Sora. Is your heart?" She asked quietly, and Sora blinked.

He hummed cutely and ran his hand in his hair. "Yeah. I think so. I dunno, I just drew what I felt, I guess."

Namine smiled then. "Well it really is beautiful. You have a beautiful heart."

Sora blushed adorably. "Well Thanks! What about you ? What did you draw?" He asked feeling curious.

She nodded and held her paper to him. "I also drew your heart Sora. You, and your heart."

Sora looked down curiously then and gasped. It was a picture of a cute Chibi Sora, holding hands with a cute Chibi Vanitas.

Namine had drawn Vanitas. A perfect cute copy right on her paper. His hands started to shake.

"Namine-" he started and looked frightened, but she quickly held her hands up to stop him.

"It's alright, Sora. I know. You don't have to hide it from me. I won't tell anyone your secret." She pleaded and scooted closer to him.

Vanitas had moved closer to see the picture and stood shocked at it. The girl sure knew how to get his good side at least. But how exactly she had seen him made him more concerned.

Sora looked back to Namine with apprehension. "How do you know?" He asked finally.

She shook her head. "It's like. I could see him. This person inside your heart. He helped you didn't he? And that's why you drew your picture like you did. He repaired your broken heart, didn't he?"

Sora swallowed before nodding. "Yes. He ...He saved me. He... completed me. I was fractured when I fell, but he came and made up the difference. If he hadn't shown up when he did... I probably wouldn't be here with you right now." Sora held his hand to his heart and squeezed.

Namine then reached up and took Sora's hand into her own. "Things aren't the way they should be though, are they Sora?" She pondered.

Sora just looked at her questioningly.

She mulled it over. "I can tell that it seems like... something is missing still. There is still something .. that needs to be done, right?" She wondered a loud.

"Something ...missing?" Sora blinked.

"You are still unhappy Sora. That's what's missing, your happiness." Namine surmised. "You just have to find your happiness again Sora. Then you will be complete. You'll just have to look inside yourself for the answer."

Sora thought for a moment. "My happiness..." It's just like what Roxas had said to him earlier. All of his friends were telling him to find his happiness. But what exactly would truly make him happy?

Vanitas frowned. The girl was right. Sora wasn't happy. Sure he would have moments of happiness, but the greatest emotion he felt lately was pain and suffering. Vanitas felt his own heart burn thinking about it. When Sora was Happy, it made Vanitas Happy as a result. But what could make Sora truly happy? Vanitas made him happy sure...but...

Was ...Vanitas the problem after all? His brows furrowed at the thought. The only other person that truly seemed to make Sora really smile lately was Riku and then Vanitas felt a stab of anger at that.

Stupid Riku once again.

Vanitas sighed thinking about him. Riku, just like Vanitas, wanted Sora's happiness, and would literally fight to get it. He supposed Riku was Sora's most closest ally, and then immediately put Namine next in the list of priority, liking her the most out of Sora's little friends. He grumbled and pulled at some grass. Riku was just continuing to become a thorn in his side.

Vanitas supposed then that maybe... Sora might be happier with Riku. And that thought made his heart hurt. He wanted to be apart of Sora's life too though! He didn't want Riku to take Sora away and do all the things with him that Vanitas wanted for do for him.

Vanitas groaned and fell back in the grass with his arms above his head. The three tiny meow wow pups suddenly ran up and started to play on his chest, seeing new prime real-estate to roll around on, and Vanitas jerked up in surprise as their tiny peg legs stabbed his torso as they climb on him. He sighed and let them lay on his chest.

Vanitas knew he was Sora's better half still, and as long as he was with Sora he would continue to try to make him happy. But he resigned that maybe if Riku could maybe help and make him even Happier than Vanitas could, then it couldn't be all bad. Even if it hurt Vanitas a little, Sora was all that mattered, in the end. He could learn to share, he supposed.

Vanitas let himself doze off thinking about Sora, while basking in the warm sunlight as Sora and Namine continued to color. The meow wows all curled on him cutely.

Sora felt his heart warm and knew Vanitas was thinking about him. He smiled and was happy that Vanitas was with him, in his heart.

Maybe.. that was his missing happiness? Vanitas being in his heart was the reason he could create unversed, and If he could just stop creating them, and also eventually figure out how to eat right, most of his problems would go away. He had Vanitas as his other half and knew he would always be safe with him, but if the unversed continued to become a problem, he feared what people would do if they found out about him.

After the pair had merged, Sora could sense the pain and frustration that Vanitas had felt when he was growing up. He knew of the fights with Terra and Aqua and knew that they both did not like Vanitas at all. Sora knew about Vanitas' struggle with Ventus too and that it was an old wound within him.

They would be arriving soon, and the thought had Sora anxious and nervous. If they found out... what would be the worse that could happen?

They could try to hurt Vanitas possibly, and that made Sora frown sadly. His sadness turned to determination though as he vowed he would not let anyone hurt his other half. His better half.

Vanitas was what made him good again, he helped him when he thought all was lost and continued to show just how much he cared for Sora. When Sora was feeling awful, Vanitas would show up and put a smile on his face. Always wanting Sora to be happy. And Sora wanted Vanitas to continue to be happy too, as he knew Vanitas never had a shred of happiness before all this.

They each just wanted to make their other half smile it seemed. Vanitas was Sora's happiness now, Sora knew. If anyone tried anything to take him away from him, Sora would protect Vanitas with all his heart if it came to that.

Namine smiled up at him then and ran a hand through his long hair and noted how nice it was. "Sora you have such lovely hair now, would you mind if I braided it?"

Sora blinked and smiled. "Okay Namine, sure that sounds nice." he sat patiently as Namine gathered his long hair at the base of his neck and started to braid it in a neat pattern. When she reached the end, she took a long black ribbon from her bag and wrapped it around the end of the braid in a cute bow. It was still pretty long but now that it was braided it was less lengthy. Sora turned and pulled at the braid to see Namine's work.

"Wow, how cute! Thank you! I was actually tempted to cut my hair when we got back, but I think I won't now, this braid is pretty nice, It reminds me of Rapunzel!" Sora smiled at her handiwork and wondered what Rapunzel would think if she saw him now.

Namine smiled. "You look really good with it Sora. But if you do decide to cut it, let me know and I could help."

Vanitas looked up finally and looked at Sora with curious eyes. He did admit Sora was pretty cute like that and then thought that this girl was instantly on his good list. One step above Riku now. Heh.

Sora smiled feeling his heart warm up again. "I think Vanitas likes it too."

Namine cocked her head a little. "Is that his name?"

Sora blinked but nodded. He supposed it was okay for her to know now. He just hopped it wasn't a bad decision.

Namine smiled to him "Well I'm glad to know him now. Vanitas. He deserves to be happy too. I'm glad I could give you both small fragment of happiness to brighten your day. "

Sora smiled brightly. He reached over and hugged Namine close to him. "Thank you Namine. Oh! Wait! Is that my official thank you? I can't even remember if I thanked you or not now! I'm sorry!"

Namine shook her head and smiled. "It's alright Sora, there's no need to thank me. Seeing all my friends together and happy is the best gift I could ever receive. So thank you Sora, for being everyone back."

Vanitas rolled his eyes and knew they would just keep thanking one another until they both were blue in the face. He snorted and looked back to the crystal lake with a humorous smile on his face.

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	8. Chapter 8

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After spending most of the day hanging out with Namine , Sora soon found himself in his bedroom alone. He smiled to himself and placed his drawing into his nightstand for safe keeping.

There was a knock on his door then and he turned at the sound.

"Come in," Sora called and smiled when Riku walked through the door. He sat back in his bed and patted the mattress beside him for Riku to sit.

"What's up, Riku?" Sora smiled.

Riku sat down wordlessly and didn't smile back. In fact he looked troubled.

"Is something wrong, Riku?" Sora asked feeling concerned.

Riku stayed silent for a long time, thinking in his head.

"Why haven't you been eating Sora?" He asked finally and Sora swallowed.

"What? I have been eating, what do you mean?" He deflected the question and turned away in defense.

Riku grabbed his hand then, and Sora turned to him again.

"You haven't been Sora, I've been watching you. Why haven't you been eating? You can tell me," He looked so intense right then, and Sora swallowed again.

"...My stomach just hasn't been feeling well lately.." he said lamely and hung his head.

Riku shook his head. "I don't think that's it either Sora... Please, talk to me. Why are you not eating?" He pressed, determined to pull the real answer from him.

Sora shook his head and sat in silence for a moment, feeling fear creep into his heart.

Riku squeezed his hand reassuringly though and tried to stop his nervousness. His hand was warm on his skin. Comforting.

Sora sighed finally.

"...Because I... don't deserve to." He said looking away, and Riku's eyes widened.

"What?" Riku asked and wanted Sora to explain himself.

"I don't... deserve to be here Riku. I shouldn't be able to enjoy nice food or my friends, or the feel sun on my skin. I abused the Power of Waking. I stole from death to many times. Xehanort even said it himself that I would fall into the abyss . He knew I couldn't change fate. No matter how hard I tried. He was right. I don't belong here Riku. I don't deserve happiness. I just create more problems by me being here."

Riku just looked at him for a long moment absorbing everything he just said. Sora didn't think he deserved to be here and was punishing himself for it by not eating. Riku clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, feeling disappointed that Sora was hurting himself. He shook his head finally before frowning.

"You don't really believe that, Sora. I know you don't." He looked down and squeezed Sora's hand again determinedly, not believing for a second that that was true. Sora deserved the world for all he has done, not eternal emptiness at the bottom of the abyss.

"What do you really believe, Sora? What does your heart tell you? Do honestly believe you should go back there and suffer? What do you really want?" Riku demanded, wanting Sora to see the truth.

"...Believe?" Sora whispered. Riku's words rang in Sora's ears.

They felt familiar to him.

/Sora, You don't believe that. I know you don't./

Sora's heart ached as he looked at Riku, and let all the words sink in.

Everyone's words.

/You just have to find your happiness again Sora. Look inside yourself for the answer, then you will be complete./

/You gotta think about yourself for once. What do you want, Sora? What would make you happy?/

/What does your heart tell you? What do you really want?/

/What do you really believe?/

He felt tears forming in his eyes and he shook his head finally and felt the tears fall.

"You're right, Riku... I don't believe that..." He cried as he let himself speak the truth, finally coming to terms with his real thoughts and feelings. He had ignored them for far too long.

"I believe that I deserve some happiness. I want happiness, I want to live! I want to enjoy my life! But why, ...Why does it hurt so much then?" Sora started to sob then, feeling everything wash away as the words set him free.

Riku scooped him up swiftly and wrapped him in a warm embrace, soaking up all Sora's emotions and letting him relieve his stress. He rubbed his hand on Sora's back and sighed into his hair sadly, but felt relieved himself that Sora finally admitted his true feelings.

Progress.

Vanitas watched them, feeling happy Sora was facing his fears about telling someone his problems, but felt a stab of jealousy that it was to Riku. He did note that Riku cared a whole lot more than Sora's other friends and constantly made an effort to try to help Sora in ways Vanitas hadn't thought to. He even noticed he wasn't eating properly when no one else did.

He started to respect Riku more and admitted to himself that he even started to like the guy a little. Even if he was a pain in his side. He was thankful for all he had done.

Eventually, after Sora had cried all his tears, he started to get a sleepy and yawned into Riku's chest. Riku sat back from the hug and got up, deciding to let Sora relax by himself now that he was feeling a little better. Riku smiled to him softly and wished him sweet dreams, before getting up and making his way out.

Vanitas briefly wondered why Sora did not create any unversed while he was crying but quickly shoved the thought from his mind as he reached for his Better Half now that he was unoccupied. Finally after a whole day! It had been much too long he felt like.

Vanitas quickly pulled Sora into his dreamscape hugged him from behind, his arms coming up around to hug at his middle as they laid in bed together and Sora smiled happily at the sight of him.

"Vani! Oh gosh, I missed you all day!" Sora said honestly and snuggled into Vanitas' arms happily, feeling a rush of relief at being with his better half finally after all the emotions he went through today. He can feel Vanitas' breath puff out as he chuckles and leans into him affectionately.

"Missed me, huh?" Vanitas smirked and rested his head on Sora's shoulder. "You sure you're not to busy with your boyfriend, Riku?"

Sora blushed. "B-boyfriend? Riku's not my boyfriend, he just my friend, that's all." Vanitas laughed and started to kiss Sora's neck softly.

Sora sighed at the feeling and smiled. "I think that you're more my boyfriend than he is Vani..."

Vanitas' eyes widened a little at that and he felt a surge of pride. He gripped Sora's hips tightly and started to increase the pressure of his kisses, and started to teeth at Sora's skin. Sora moaned quietly as Vanitas starts to rub his hands over his body.

Sora backed into Vanitas' embrace and thrusted his backside into him lightly and Vanitas groaned at the feeling. Smirking into Sora's neck, he shimmied the pair to the center of the bed and pushed Sora to get on his knees.

He climbed up with him with his chest folded over Sora's back and he pulled Sora's pants down just enough to see that perky ass of his and squeezed the exposed cheek.

Sora moaned and leaned into him, as he propped himself up on his arms in front of himself and arched his back.

Vanitas spit into his hand and then reached back down to toy at Sora's tight ring of muscle and Sora just opened up for him. He licked his lips as he worked him open, Sora's moans driving him wild. When he was good and ready, Vanitas sunk into him with a choked gasp.

"Vaniii..." Sora whined and Vanitas squeezed his hipbones tighter as he started to thrust himself into his better half.

Vanitas usually likes to watch Sora's face when he was being pleasured, but he admits this view of him was quite beautiful too.

Sora let his chest fall to the bed as he pushed back into Vanitas. The pleasure was exhilarating. Vanitas holding him down and pressing into him so roughly was positively divine. He mewled happily as Vanitas pounded his tight little hole.

"Vani... ohh.. more please..." He pushed backwards into him more, trying to pull him in deeper and Vanitas hissed at the tightness of it all.

Vanitas then pulled out completely suddenly and Sora looked back with a whine. Vanitas grinned wide at Sora's brief disappointment and promised this next trick would be quite good.

He pulled Sora's pants off all the way and he then grabbed one of Sora's legs by the thigh, right under the knee cap, and lifted it up and around, to turn Sora's lower half to the side with his chest still pressed into the bed. This angle would let him reach inside Sora deeper and he knew it would drive Sora crazy. Sora twisted around for him deliciously and stretched his body to the new position, his leg stretching out in Vanitas' grip.

Sora moaned as Vanitas pulled him where he wanted. He liked being pulled around by him. He liked Vanitas taking control. It was nice to just let himself feel. He loved this.

He loved just being with Vanitas, and knew Vanitas loved being with him. Sora knew he wanted to be happy with Vanitas forever. He wanted to live for both of them. If he went back into the abyss, they would both be sad and trapped in that realm and that's not something he wanted. He truly believed he and Vanitas both deserved some happiness too, and this was it. He would fight for it now. Vanitas and him would be happy together. His heart swelled at the thought. Forever with his better half.

Vanitas lifted Sora's leg up high in the air and then looked down at all the delicious skin that was now exposed and bit his lip at the sight of Sora's leaking member hanging untouched. He smirked and pulled Sora in close to him and put himself back inside, now that the angle was even easier for him, and he slid in deep.

Sora threw his head back and whined at Vanitas' thick cock pushing inside him and stretch him out. He moaned his name and panted as Vanitas started to fuck into him, still holding his leg up high. Sora pushed himself lay on his side more and let himself go to Vanitas' delicious thrusts.

Vanitas was loosing his god damn mind. Sora was so hot when he was like this, all turned on and blitzed out of his mind. He was arching and twisting his body so erotically for Vanitas that he had to tighten his grip on Sora's leg to keep from dropping him. This position was too good to stop now and he felt that familiar tingle flair inside him, his orgasm approaching.

He reached his free hand down and started pulling at Sora's untouched member and Sora wailed and sunk deeper into the sheets, pushing back against the bed to meet Vanitas' thrusts.

"Vanitas! Yes, please! Oh! Just like that-," Sora moaned and shut his eyes in ecstasy. "Right there!"

"Like this? You like it right here, Sora?" Vanitas moaned low and angled his thrusts directly on Sora's prostate, and started to abuse the bundle of nerves. His hand still stroking Sora's stiff member tightly, and Sora screamed in euphoria. His eyes rolling as the pleasure was brighter than ever before. His whole body suddenly jerked and he orgasmed, his walls clenching tightly around Vanitas' cock as he shook with unbridled pleasure.

Vanitas held him tightly as Sora's whole body shook violently. He thrusted faster into his quivering hole as Sora cried out in overstimulation, and Vanitas came deep inside him.

Sora moaned feeling Vanitas' cum inside him and purred in satisfaction. He bit his lip when he felt some run down his skin as Vanitas pulled out of him. He panted for breath and collapsed to the bed once Vanitas released his leg, relaxing into the sheets feeling completely blitzed.

Vanitas scooped him up from behind and snuggled him. Kissing his head and rubbing his sides affectionately. He pulled the blanket over their tired forms and sighed into Sora's neck happily, reaching around to weave their fingers together.

Sora smiled and hummed blissfully. He snuggled back into Vanitas' embrace and turned his head to kiss him. Vanitas gladly captured his lips with his and smiled softly as they lazily smooched.

The meow wows continued to play on the floor together and welcomed their newly created addition to the group with happy noises. A small little meow wow pack forming between them all. They played together happily.

Sora sighed dreamily and laid back in his pillow with a big smile as he snuggled into his beloved, feeling positively glowing.

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Riku came back upstairs later to tell Sora that supper was going to be ready soon , but then smiled seeing Sora asleep in his bed. He looked happy at least as he dreamed and Riku sighed in content before moving to go to his own room.

He laid back in his own bed, thinking about Sora, before deciding to take a little nap himself before dinner.

He relaxed into the bed and felt himself fall into a deep sleep.

Riku then opened his eyes again and sat up, rubbing his hand on his face. What time was it? He sighed and got up to see if Sora had awakened yet.

He walked to Sora's room and opened the door without knocking and stepped through.

"Riku?!" Sora's voice then called out to him and he looked up in worry.

Maybe he should have knocked?

Riku's eyes widened in shock at what he saw next. It was positively crazy. Was his mind playing tricks on him?

He was looking at ...what seemed to be two Sora's, and they were laying together in the bed. Riku shook his head and looked at them again, in disbelief.

Vanitas looked up in shock too but he soon sat up and smirked at Riku. Guess the cat was out of the bag now.

Riku finally spoke up after finding his voice. "What is going on Sora? Who is ...that?"

Vanitas smirked wider. "I'm Vanitas, it's nice to finally meet you Riku. I'm Sora's better half." He says triumphantly.

Riku just blinked at him, not really understanding. "Sora's better half? What does that even mean?"

Vanitas laughed then. "Oh Silly Riku. I complete him, and together, we are one. Are Hearts are intertwined. We are weaved and knitted together, fused and merged. We are closer then even the closest of friends could ever be. He is my better half, as I am his." He smirked feeling satisfaction that this was something Riku could never have with his Sora. Vanitas finally felt like he had won over Riku.

Riku frowned feeling uneasy. "Closer than friends? Well, You're not acting very friendly to me."

Vanitas frowned angrily and growled. "It doesn't matter if I'm 'friendly' or not!! I am Sora's , as he is mine! And you won't come between us!" He stood now, and materialized some black pants around his waist, as he felt he didn't need his entire suit of armor to face Riku right then, and stood tall to stake his claim.

Riku stood straighter as well and clenched his fist tightly. "I'll protect Sora no matter what! And if you're just some 'nightmare' that has his trapped in this weird illusion, then so be it, because I am what nightmares fear!" He yelled angrily and then he summoned his keyblade, Braveheart into his hand.

Vanitas barked out a laugh. "FEAR? You don't know the meaning of the word!" And then summoned his own keyblade Voidgear angrily, and held it over head in his familiar stance.

Riku felt a stab of realization dawn on him when he saw it. That was they keyblade that Sora had summoned while in the realm of darkness. It must be this persons influence then that had control over Sora all this time. He gripped his keyblade tighter and stood in his own fighting stance, which was actually perfectly mirroring Vanitas' stance unconsciously, as their fighting styles were actually very similar to one another. Both holding their keyblades over head in aggression.

Sora got up finally and stood between them, after putting on some pants of his own. "Please no! please don't fight!" He cried desperately.

Riku tried to get Sora to stand back and away from Vanitas. "Sora watch out, he's dangerous!"

Sora shook his head. "No! He's not dangerous!! Vanitas /is/ my better half, Riku! He saved me while I was trapped in the abyss! Without him I would be nothing! I would have faded away to nothing. He is the reason I am alive ! You can not hurt him. Please!" He cried out in despair and hoped to God he could stop them from hurting one another.

"Vanitas and I have connected our hearts, Riku. When I fell into the darkest depths of the abyss, my heart was fragmented and my memories started to fade. But Vanitas filled in the gaps that were missing. Together we make a complete heart. And if you try to hurt him and take him away from me, It could mean the end for both of us!"

Riku frowned as he listened, staring into Vanitas' yellow eyes the whole time.

He doesn't know how to feel. This copy- This man, Vanitas , completed Sora? What did that even mean? And who even was he anyway? Was it like a weird Replica situation maybe ? Is this person actually, a form of Sora ? Or Is he his own person? Why does he look just like Sora? So many questions, but he just looked on with confusion.

The meow wow pack then made itself known to Riku and he jumped back in surprise at the black nightmare blobs.

Riku recoiled at the sight of them. "Unversed?" He said and looked ready to attack them with his keyblade.

Sora held his hands up in fear and stopped him. "No! Please Don't! They are mine, Riku!"

Riku stared at him again, still on the defensive. "What do you mean 'They are yours'?"

Sora nodded softly. "Yes Riku. They're mine! I created them from my emotions, and when they are killed, it's like a knife in my heart each time."

"You ... created them? You create Unversed?" Riku said and then when the words actually sunk into his head he felt dread well up in his heart.

"Yes Riku. I create Unversed when I experience an uncontrollable emotion. That's why I have been so freaked out lately, because when you guys see them and destroy them, it hurts and it's the worst pain I have ever felt. I literally feel the pain directly in my heart."

Riku then, felt absolutely awful and fell to his knees as the realization hit him like a freight train.

"Sora...I have been unknowingly hurting you for years. I have been fighting back Unversed for a very long time. I ... had no idea they were connected to you though."

Sora and Vanitas both blinked at that.

Vanitas was instantly furious. He pushed in between Sora and Riku and created distance between them.

Unversed were being created for years??? And Riku was killing them off??? WHAT. Vanitas was mad as he realized what that meant for Sora and squared up in Riku's face.

Riku caused unknowing agony within Sora's heart for a decade.Sora would think about him in the abyss, and unknowingly create an unversed because of the pain, and it then would spawn near Riku in the real world, who in turn didn't know they were Sora's and destroyed them without hesitation. That would then create more pain for Sora, who would then only make more unversed.

A viscous cycle. How cruel.

Riku backed up and apologized with his hands up dismissively, feeling like absolute shit. He had unknowingly sent Sora into a deeper demise as he slaughtered thousands of Unversed over the years. He felt ashamed at himself. How could he have done that to Sora?

Sora then burst in between them again, his head shaking as he pulled Vanitas away. "It's okay Riku, you didn't know! It's okay! You couldn't have known! How could you have known! Its okay though, it's alright now!" He pleaded and hugged Riku then around the middle and squeezed him tightly.

The meow wows huddled around them closely, and Vanitas watched on in anger. It was true though, Riku didn't know. How could he have known? Vanitas and Soda both had no idea themselves. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried not to let his own despair at that thought wash over him. Sora...

Riku then looked at the meow wow Unversed creations with curiosity.

"Can you control them?"

Sora shook his head. "No I can't , they are Uncontrollable... like my emotions." He finished with sadness.

Riku watched silently as the creatures roamed around his legs and rubbed up against him. He gave into the urge to reach down and pet one of the nightmares then, and Sora sucked in a breath feeling a tug in his heart at the sensation.

Riku looked back up at the noise. He pet one again and Sora made a happy sigh, feeling relaxed.

Riku thought for a moment, "So.. if you kill one it hurts, but if you pet it, it's ...good?" He thought out loud and then decided to hug one. Sora immediately smiled and giggled at the feeling. It felt warm in his heart.

The creature nuzzled into his chest happily and Riku smiled hugging it close. It was kind of cute, in a weird way. Only Sora could manage to create something like this, he supposed.

Riku's thoughts were cut off though as the meow-wow creature had suddenly ...dissolved into him.

He gasped when a sudden rush of pleasure wafted throughout his entire body. The shock and awe written clearly on his features.

Riku unknowingly had just absorbed the unversed into his being. The Meow-Wow literally just disappeared into his chest, diving right into his heart happily, knowing that that was were it belonged.

Riku's eyes opened comically wide as he felt a flair of arousal surge through him and felt his cheeks flush, and he turned away from Vanitas' gaze in embarrassment.

Vanitas' eyes also widened as he saw the look of pleasure cross Riku's face so suddenly. The gasp that Riku let out was so quiet that he almost didn't hear it. Vanitas blinked as he started to register what the heck he just saw.

Riku had ...absorbed the ...Unversed?

WHAT!!!!?

Sora choked back a gasp of pleasure as Riku took the being into himself and he sat back in shock as well.

Riku just... he couldn't believe what had he just witnessed and what he had felt. It was so intense! So sudden!

Vanitas blinked again before he got up in Riku's personal space again and grabbed him by the shoulder to face him.

"What the FUCK was that? Did you just.. Was that...?" He struggled to finish his sentence as looked at Riku's dazed expression.

Riku stuttered feeling completely embarrassed and turned on. His face was slowly turning red as he stared at Vanitas with shock and ...something else too.

Riku stood then and tried to compose himself before going to the door. This was too much! What in the world? He needed a second alone, he needed to think! What the hell was even happening and why was he so turned on? Riku was actually frightened now and wanted to leave the room quickly.

Vanitas watched him get up, still in shock.

"W-wait! Riku.." Sora then called out before Riku could leave the room. His hand stopped on the doorknob. He swallowed thickly.

"C-can you ...do that again... please? What ever that was..?" Sora mumbled quietly, his face flushed.

Riku let the words register in his head and he gripped the doorknob tightly and swallowed again.

Vanitas shook his head, "Wait -what?" He looked to Sora.

Sora was blushing like mad and kept his eyes down. He bit his lip.

Vanitas knew that look. Sora was turned on too.

"It felt ..good... when Riku did that... It's never felt like that before..." he finally said and turned away again, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

Vanitas looked back to Riku. It felt good? Vanitas was so confused. Sora clearly liked when Riku did that, and by the looks of it Riku did too. What did that even mean?

Vanitas watched as Riku turned back to look at Sora with dark eyes, and Vanitas could see the lust behind them. The want.

Vanitas then, smirked knowingly. Realization dawning on him. Sora definitely had that effect on people. And Riku certainly looked effected by it, alright.

"Yeah Riku, do it again..." Vanitas said finally finding his voice, and he watched Riku's face intently, his smirk widening. He wanted to see more from Riku, what else was he hiding behind those eyes? If it did feel good for both Sora and him when he took that unversed, would Riku show them more of what he was hiding, if he took some more?

Riku flushed slightly at Vanitas' gaze. This was so weird... and so ... different. Vanitas was looking at him strangely, and it felt weird to Riku. He wasn't sure if he liked it, or maybe that he did. He swallowed again and looked to Sora, who was blushing and hiding his face.

The lookalikes were obviously two completely different people in this moment and Riku was entranced. He swallowed and looked down to the other Meow wows and picked one up.

Vanitas watched with an intense stare. His eyes were glued to Riku's face as Riku brought the creature into a hug. The meow wow made a delighted noise and dove right into his heart happily. Riku's brows scrunched together and closed his eyes tightly as he felt pleasure rush through him again.

Sora caught a moan in the back of his throat and held a hand to his mouth as he blushed. His legs crossed tighter and felt his heart thump loudly in his chest.

It was good. The pleasure Sora had felt... It was different, yet the similar to the times he had been with Vanitas. When they would join together, it was like a slow rollercoaster ticking up to the top of the hill before cresting over and falling down quickly in the ecstasy.

This time though, with what ever Riku had just did, was like a small tidal wave all at once. Not nearly like the real thing, but a small sweet taste of it. It was definitely shocking and abrupt, washing over him in an instant, but the effect from its intensity still lingered as Sora felt himself grow aroused from the sensation.

It was absolutely better then killing the creatures or even when Sora had absorbed one. This was a completely different, and exciting.

Vanitas watched Riku the whole time and breathed deeply when he saw how he reacted. He felt his mouth run dry as he started to see Riku in a way he had never thought about before.

Riku, the normally calm and stoic one, was now shy and demure. It was...fascinating. Vanitas was instantly intrigued. And definitely turned on as well. He wanted to see more. What else could Riku do ?

Riku finally opened his eyes and looked between Sora and Vanitas. He flushed seeing Vanitas' wicked and knowing smirk before turning away in a huff.

"I-I need to go." He said suddenly and quickly left the room before anyone could say anything else. He needed to get out and breathe. What ever the heck had just happened was insane to think about. First Vanitas, then unversed, and now this? He needed a strong drink if he was to wrap his head around this, and quickly fled from the room.

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	9. Chapter 9

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Once the pair was alone again, Vanitas turned to Sora once more and questioned him on what had just happened.

"So it felt good? When Riku took your Unversed for you? ...What did it feel like?" Vanitas wondered, having never experienced pleasure from his unversed before.

Sora just blushed and nodded. "It did feel good Vani...it was like..." He flushed deeper when he thought about it, "It was kind of like when you touch me... down there. But it was different." He turned his face away feeling slightly embarrassed by the whole thing.

Vanitas thought silently for a moment and then tried to hug one of the unversed too. Could he absorb one for Sora? He wanted to make Sora feel good like that.

Sora smiled at the sensation of Vanitas hugging his unversed, feeling happy about it, but Vantias did not absorb it like Riku did. Vanitas frowned about it, but then Sora suddenly made grabby hands for him and then he moved to take Sora into his arms up on the bed and nuzzled into him lovingly with a grin.

"Vani, I want your kisses please!" Sora giggled feeling silly suddenly and happy as he reached for him. The two meow wows that were left tumbled over each other on the floor happily too.

Vanitas gladly gave Sora all his kisses and they rubbed up on each other tenderly. Vanitas sighed into Sora's kiss softly and then started to reach down and put his hands in Sora's pants again, and started to touch Sora's most special places, driving him wild with ecstasy and pleasure. He kissed him roughly as they shook together in their pleasure.

Another Meow Wow would fall in with the others when the pair had finished, and then the meow wows all bounced around happily at their new sibling. They danced together as their creators fell asleep, wrapped around each other lovingly, and then the creatures soon laid down themselves for a nice little nap, huddled together for warmth.

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On the morning of the fourth day of Sora's return, Sora walked into the dining hall with a smile on his face.

He still had the slight headache, even after all this time, but he wasn't going to let it bring his good mood down. He greeted his friends happily and sat down for breakfast with them.

"Good Morning Sora," Namine then said to him and she placed a plate of French Toast in front of him, complete with powdered sugar. Sora blinked and his mouth watered at the sight. "We made French toast for breakfast today, hopefully you like them, we made plenty for everyone." She smiled and sat down beside him, starting her own meal happily.

Roxas smiled seeing them both and sat down as well to dig into his own breakfast. "Yeah it was Namine's idea to make French toast and boy was it a great one! They sure are good!" He said happily and passed Sora the syrup.

Sora swallowed and poured some on his toast. Would it taste bad again?

Sora then thought about what Riku had said to him about his own happiness. About what he believed in. He felt determination within him.

He would be happy. He deserved to be happy. He deserved to enjoy the little things in life, even things as simple as tasting sweet food. Sora deserved to enjoy his life. He would not let anyone try to take his happiness away anymore.

Not even himself.

He cut a small piece of the eggy toast and brought it to up to his mouth, and chewed.

It was delicious.

Sora almost started crying. He could taste the sweet syrup and the powdered sugar with the egg and milk on the toast. He hummed happily and started to eat more with new vigor. "It's soooo good! It's delicious!! Thank you Namine, thank you!!"

She shook her head once again.

"No, don't thank me Sora, you should really be thanking yourself. You are the reason I thought to make such a nice meal anyway, I wanted to make you something that's as sweet as you." She smiled happily at him and Sora felt his heart soar at everything. It was surreal.

He did thank himself then. He thanked himself for finally believing in something that was actually worth believing.

He grinned and continued to enjoy his food happily, and felt Vanitas purr in satisfaction too. He hummed delightfully as the yummy flavors brought joy to him once again.

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After breakfast, Riku tried to corner Sora to ask him about what had transpired last night, but was unsuccessful as the main group wanted to play a card game with Sora and then Riku sighed reluctantly as he followed to play.

It was a simple card game, where people would use their cards to try to complete funny statements and would earn points for being funniest out of the groups. Riku's heart melted as he watched Sora relax and laugh without a care in the world and felt happy he was enjoying himself again. He saw that Sora had eaten quite a few pieces of French toast earlier too and that made him smile.

Sora was beginning to get better, Riku knew that now.

He started to think back to last night though. About Sora's lookalike. Vanitas- was what he called himself. Riku shook his head when he pictured him again. Standing tall and ferocious with his keyblade in hand. At that moment he looked nothing like Sora.

Riku swallowed as he continued to think about it. Vanitas was completely different from Sora. Held himself taller, even looked stronger, more built. He had a dark look in his eyes, and Riku shuttered when he remembered how he looked at Riku, when he had taken the unversed into his heart. There was something there, something... else.

In all of his fantasies of Sora, he never imagined him to look like that. So.. powerful.

Riku shifted in his seat and forced his thoughts back to the game in front of him.

Sora was reading some cards out loud as he was choosing the best statement to earn the points for that round. He picked up another card and read the completed statement to everyone.

"Maybe She's Born With It, Maybe It's... A Gypsy Curse?" Sora started laughing at that and declared that card the winner. Axel hooted triumphantly as everyone else groaned.

"Axel, you cheater! You have 12 cards in your hand! You only get to have 10!" Roxas laughed and started to play fight with Axel and the two laughed and bickered.

Riku shook his head at their antics before excusing himself now that the game was seemingly over.

Sora watched him go silently with a frown, and moved to follow him.

Halfway up the stairs, Riku turned and noticed Sora following him. He just nodded his head up to Sora's room as a sign to meet there and the pair then walked up to the room together.

Once inside, Riku turned to Sora questioningly.

"Alright. What even happened last night, Sora?" He asked just feeling so confused by it all.

Sora rubbed a hand in his hair sheepishly. "Uhhh... well.."

"Vanitas, that's his name? What's even the deal with him? You said he's your... better half?" Riku felt distaste at the word, knowing it usually meant something reserved for wedding vows.

Sora nodded softly. "When I fell to the realm of darkness, I was starting to slowly loose all my memories. Every part of me was disappearing. But then Vanitas came and recompleted me. He came and made up the difference. If he hadn't, I would have probably faded away completely."

Riku frowned. "Okay, but where did he even come from?"

Sora then rubbed his head again. "Well... you see... it's kind of a long story? So...Vanitas was originally created from Ventus. Master Xehanort sliced Ventus' darkness out of his heart, and it became Vanitas. But when they had split, they were both severed and fragmented, like I was in the abyss. They both actually reached out to my heart when I was first born and it was I who saved them both. So, if you think about it, it's actually kind of sweet of Vanitas to save me now after all that has happened." He smiled fondly when he thought of that.

Riku looked even more confused. "Ventus?? Vanitas is half of Ventus? And then you saved both of them..?" he tried to understand everything.

"Yes, I saved them twice actually. Once when Vanitas was originally created and fragmented and then again after him and Ventus were finally defeated. That's why I had Ventus's heart was inside mine for my entire life."

Sora sighed and held a hand to his heart affectionately. "What I didn't know though, was that Vanitas was actually there too."

Riku shook his head. "You had .../another/ heart inside you? Really? I mean, okay, why am I even surprised at this point. ...Go on." He resigned to just listen and absorb all the information.

Sora shook his head and laughed at Riku's confusion. "You see, Vanitas has been inside my heart since I was born, but no one ever actually knew. Everyone, even Vanitas himself, had just assumed that he had fallen to the Realm of Darkness when he was defeated. Vanitas had no idea where he really was, as when I hold peoples hearts inside me, they sleep in a dark chamber. You can't really tell where you are when you are in it. But what really happened, was that when I fell to the abyss, he was finally able to come out of my heart as I was slowly fading away. He felt his own heart then reach out to mine and that's when he finally saw me and saved me. He was forced to evacuate from my heart, only to turn around and recomplete it." Sora finished.

He had no idea were all that came from, but after he said it he knew it had to be true, because why else would Vanitas help him? He had no real reason to want to help Sora in the beginning. Unless, they were already previously connected. Sure, the original connection when they were born could have been enough, maybe, but it warmed both of their hearts to think that they had actually been together nearly all their lives and didn't even know it.

Riku sat back as he listened to Sora speak. It was a lot all at once. He was still on the part about Vanitas being from Ventus.

"Wait a minute, ...didn't you fight him though? Wasn't that who Ventus and Aqua were fighting in the Keyblade Graveyard when you saved Terra?" Riku vaguely remembered it all.

Sora sighed and frowned sadly. "That Vanitas was from the past. Just like the rest of The Real Organization 13 members were. Xehanort stole Vanitas' heart from the past and put it in a replica body in our time to fill out his ranks. When we defeated Vanitas then, he was finally free to go back to his own time."

Riku rubbed his eyes, listening to it all. "Okay sure. Okay. So. Unversed. What's up with that. Is that Vanitas' doing then?"

Sora bit his lip. "I think it's because Vanitas is inside me, that I am able to create them now. But if I just keep my emotions under control, then I shouldn't create them!"

"What about those cat shaped ones?" Riku asked and instinctively looked for them.

Sora smiled then thinking about those ones. They were special. "Those ones live inside my dreams, Riku."

"Your dreams?" Riku said incredulously, and thought his head was gunna explode with all this nonsense. This was starting to become to much again.

"I mean, you are still my Dream Eater aren't you Riku? How else are you able to show up in my dreams?" Sora said thinking that that must be the answer to how Riku was able to appear in his and Vanitas' dreamscape at night.

Riku blinked and then slowly nodded. That was right, during his Mark of Mastery exam all those years ago, he dove into Sora's dreams and chased his nightmares away.

"I guess I am.. how does it work though? I don't visit you every night." He questioned.

Sora hummed and thought. "Maybe it only works if we sleep at the same time? Or something... We could try now if you want?" Sora asked and then when Riku didn't answer right away he just moved to climb into the bed and reached for Riku with a small smile.

Riku blinked at him before getting up and sitting on the bed with him before laying down beside him.

"I'm not tired though so I doubt I'll fall asleep," Riku said but laid back in the bed anyway.

Sora smiled and took his hand into his. "Just hold my hand, and close your eyes, I'll take us there."

Riku sighed and relaxed into the pillow clutching Sora's hand. He shut his eyes then.

Vanitas came up and pulled Sora into the dreamscape, and Sora pulled Riku in with them by the hand.

When they opened their eyes next they both sat up and saw Vanitas sitting at the foot of the bed with the Meow Wows in his lap.

"Nice to see you again Riku." Vanitas smirked and looked at him with his dark gaze, his golden eyes shining as he thought of something mischievously.

Riku felt himself flush slightly at Vanitas' stare and turned away. Seeing someone who looked almost exactly like Sora look at him like that, made his head spin.

"Vanitas," he replied curtly, "Who exactly are you anyway? Sora told me you came from Ventus?"

Vanitas laughed. "It is quite a long story. But yes. I am half of Ventus. The part that was ripped out of him by Xehanort. Sora saved both of us though and gave us refuge in his heart. For which I am grateful. He gave me this beautiful face after all." He smirked almost evilly when he said that, and Riku swallowed seeing it.

One of the meow wows bumbled over to Riku and nuzzled his leg, wanting to be petted. Riku looked at it with a frown.

"You're the reason Sora creates these things?" He asked finally petting it. Sora made a soft sound next to him.

Vanitas furrowed his brow and looked away. "Probably. He's getting a hold on it though. Not nearly creating as many as before." He replied sharply, the edge in his voice poised to attack if Riku started any shit with him about it.

"Sora said you helped him, but how are you helping if all you do is create unversed?" Riku asked him and let the meow wow step into his crossed legs.

Riku continued to pet the creature and Sora relaxed back into the bed feeling content. Vanitas also had one in his lap and they both silently pet the meow wows as they spoke. Sora felt positively peachy as he reclined on his pillows happily.

Vanitas smirked at Riku's question, thinking back to all the many 'ways' he helped Sora previously.

"I do help him. When he starts to loose control of his negative emotions, I pull him into this dreamscape and calm him down... in a way." He couldn't help but feel like a cat who got the cream. Riku had no idea of all the things Vanitas and Sora did with each other and it was delightful.

Riku looked skeptical. "Calm him down in a dreamscape? Wait, is that why we keep finding you passed out on the floor? Vanitas is ...helping you?" He turned to Sora who was still laying over his pillows and asked him.

Sora then blinked and looked at him shyly, nodding his head. "Sometimes it just hurts really bad, and Vani helps me..." He turned his eyes away thinking about it.

Riku thought again. "So you create unversed because of Vanitas, but they hurt you, And then he makes it up to you by making you 'feel better' by making you pass out...? But yet after all that you still make unversed. So it creates this weird cycle? Doesn't that seem a little... unhealthy?"

Sora sat up then and frowned. "Well what else am I supposed to do?"

"Why don't you separate from Vanitas, now that your free from the darkness? " Riku suggested and Sora looked horrified.

"No!! If you try to separate us we could both be seriously hurt. It's not that simple as putting him in a replica or something! He's apart of me now. Different than anyone else. I don't want to loose him, I love him!" Sora said feeling desperation.

Riku's eyes widened when Sora said the L word. Even though Sora clearly loved many people, he wasn't so careless to just go throwing out that word. Riku couldn't remember Sora ever saying he Loved someone before. Riku swallowed, thinking how Sora even called Vanitas his better-half before.

Was Sora with Vanitas, in that way?

Riku lost himself in his thoughts again and continued to pet the meow wow. It nuzzled his hand before borking at him and then it suddenly decided now was a great time to dive into Riku's heart. The meow wow phased in to his chest suddenly and Riku threw his head up with a gasp in shock at the pleasure behind it.

Sora gasped too, and leaned over his legs as he felt the pleasure surge through him. It was so intense and he felt his face flush.

Vanitas bit his lip as he watched both of them react to the pleasure. Well, this could get interesting, he thought as he continued to pet his own meow wow and grinned wickedly when Sora whined at him. Now might be the perfect time to try and put his new plan into action.

"Does that feel good, Sora?" Vanitas asked mischievously and continued to scratch and pet the meow wow in his lap. Riku just stared at Vanitas and Sora in silent shock at what was happening, feeling aroused from it all.

Sora whined again and turned his head, blushing. "Vani don't.." He was so embarrassed! Riku was right there watching everything! The way Riku was looking at him made him feel weird, It kind of reminded him of how Vanitas looked at him sometimes...

Vanitas saw how Riku looked at Sora and himself, he saw the intrigue and the lust. It was positively divine to see. Vanitas took a deep breath in through his nose and bit his smirking lip, knowing this was the perfect chance. He had to act now, or else those two never would. Sora would be happy, and Riku too, they just needed a little push in the right direction.

"I think.. that Riku wants to help you feel good too, Sora," Vanitas said and then placed his meow wow into Riku's lap. Riku instinctively held on to it and Sora made a small noise in response.

Riku swallowed, thinking to himself for a moment. "Is that how you help him? ...You make Sora... feel good?" He felt his cheeks flush.

Vanitas could not help but giggle wickedly at that. "I make him feel... amazing."

Riku felt a small surge of jealousy flair in him. He looked back down to Sora who was turned away, embarrassedly.

Riku looked back to Vanitas, who was still smirking and Vanitas turned his eyes to the meow wow in Riku's lap before looking back to Riku expectantly.

"You wanna make Sora feel good too though, don't you Riku? Why don't you do it? Make him feel good." Vanitas pressed. He wanted to push them together, because they would only just continue to tiptoe around each other, and Vanitas wanted Sora to be completely happy. Riku gave Sora things Vanitas could not and would only make Sora's world brighter. Vanitas could learn to like him too, as he certainly was intrigued by him. He definitely wanted to see more.

Riku took a deep breath and looked at Sora, who looked back at him shyly. Riku decided that now might be his only chance to do something as crazy as this, and took the meow wow into his arms. It dove happily into his heart. He couldn't help but moan at that one, his breath becoming labored and his dick straining his jeans.

Sora cried out that time. "Riku-!" It was so intense. He could feel himself throb in his pants and he blushed deeper.

Vanitas got up then with a grin and started to pull Sora over, dragging him across the bed and putting him square in front of Riku.

Vanitas leaned down to Sora and whispered in his ear seductively. "You wanna kiss Riku, don't you Sora?"

Sora gasped at him. "Vanitas!" His heart beat wildly in his chest. What was Vanitas doing? Riku was his best friend , Riku didn't think about Sora like that! Surely! Sora blushed thinking about it himself. He did admit that maybe he did want to kiss Riku. But this was so embarrassing.

Riku's brain was slowly short circuiting. Just what in the hell was going on? Vanitas was ...pushing them together? but why? And Sora wanted to kiss him? Was that true?

Vanitas put his head on Sora's shoulder and leaned back down to Sora's ear again. "I want to see you kiss him Sora, don't you want too? Don't you like Riku?" He whispered and rubbed Sora's sides encouragingly.

Sora blushed and hid his eyes before looking back shyly. He did kinda want to.. and Vanitas seemed very adamant that he should. Vanitas only wanted Sora to be happy... maybe this was another way of trying to show that? By helping him and Riku?

Vanitas just watched with peaked interest. He knew it was only a matter of time before they would kiss each other and now he just had to wait. He continued to rub at Sora's back and sides affectionately while staring Riku down. The look in Riku's eyes was mesmerizing. He was completely gone, lost in his head with thoughts of Sora. Vanitas grinned triumphantly.

Sora nodded finally. "Yes... I like Riku..." he rung his hands together in nervousness as he kept his eyes turned away.

"Could I.. kiss you Riku?" Sora asked finally, feeling very embarrassed and anxious, but happy his question was out there finally.

Riku's eyes widened. He sucked in a breath. "Sora..." he said in awe.

Vanitas moved his head from Sora's shoulder then to allow them space, and Sora blushed and looked at him, waiting for an answer.

"Okay." Riku said finally. Might as well take the chance as it's presented to him. It's not like he hadn't thought about kissing Sora everyday or anything. No, practically all the time was more like it. And now he had a chance to actually do it, even if it was under the weirdest circumstances.

Sora blinked before smiling softly. "O-Okay..." he sucked in a breath feeling relief that Riku didn't tell him off or something for being so forward. He silently thanked Vanitas for actually pushing them to do this, as Sora night never have gotten the courage to do this on his own.

Riku leaned in then and cupped Sora's face gently and pressed a kiss to his lips. It was sweet at first, but it was Sora who actually pressed into him harder and peaked his tongue out shyly, seeking entrance.

Riku breathed deeply though his nose and opened his mouth for Sora and felt complete bliss. Sora tasted sweet like sunshine and rainbows, if those things had a taste. Riku kissed him harder and brought his hands to Sora's hips tightly.

Sora's hands flew up to Riku's hair at that and he instinctively moved his body closer, fully expecting Riku to just pull him into his lap like Vanitas would, but he didn't. He just held onto Sora's hips and continued to kiss him sweetly. Sora felt his heart race.

Vanitas leaned back a little and watched them in a silent victory. He supposed they did look good together. He watched as they both shyly kissed each other and lightly touched. It was fairly 'cute', if he was being honest. If Vanitas has not have pushed them they probably would have never figured it out. They were both so innocently naive like that.

Sora moaned into his kiss with Riku and Riku held onto his hips tighter. Sora huffed at the feeling of Riku's hands on him and decided to make a move himself, and got up and sat in Riku's lap to get closer to him.

Vanitas moved up closer behind Sora once he was on Riku's lap and he started to touch Sora encouragingly, wrapping his hands around to Sora's middle, to the front of his pants and played with the waist band teasingly.

Sora released Riku's lips from his own and sat back a little. He looked back to Vanitas who just held a wicked smirk as he started to dip his fingers in the waistband.

Sora blushed and leaned his back into Vanitas' chest. "Vani..." he whispered and looked down at his hands on his zipper.

Riku just watched with wide eyes and a throbbing erection in his pants. There was no way this was real. He imagined this , there's no way Sora would be doing any of this with him and Vanitas. It couldn't be real. Could it?

He just continued to silently watch Vanitas touch Sora, letting his eyes wash over Sora's body. Vanitas saw this and smirked before taking one of his hands to lift Sora's shirt up high on his chest, and bunched it up past his nipples.

Sora tried to cover himself with his arms, feeling embarrassed but Vanitas just rubbed his fingers over a perk nipple as his other hand started to distend into the front of Sora's pants. His hands brushed against Sora's most special place and Sora moaned low, letting his head fall back on Vanitas shoulder.

Riku's eyes just widen at the sight of this in front of him. He's absolutely rock hard in his pants now as he watched Vanitas' hand touch Sora so erotically. Riku's hands tightened on Sora's hips and he shifted underneath Sora as he felt his dick throb uncomfortably.

Sora looked up when he felt Riku adjust himself and felt the hardness of him. Sora bit his lip and grinded down on him slightly, blushing when he felt Riku's whole length against him.

"Riku, you're hard..." Sora said faintly.

Riku just swallowed again and Vanitas laughed.

"Well of course he is, Sora. You drive us both wild." Vanitas smirked and continued to rub his hand on Sora softly, watching Riku's reactions with peaked interest.

He wanted to see Riku get off on this. It's so erotic, its so new, it's so forbidden almost. Vanitas wants to see more. Wants to see everything.

Vanitas started to touch Sora more, making him moan and Riku held onto his hips tighter and thrusted up subconsciously. Vanitas continued to watch him and found that he liked what he saw. It's intoxicating. Seeing Riku so shy and flustered by his own want. Sora had Riku wrapped around his finger and he had no idea. How gone could Riku get? Vanitas had to know just how far Riku would go. Wow, This was a wonderful idea!

Vanitas leaned down again and whispered breathlessly to Sora to kiss Riku once more and Sora gladly reached for him and pulled him into a heated kiss, his tongue immediately reaching out and Riku captured it with a moan. Vanitas hummed in satisfaction as he started to move his hand on Sora faster, wanting to make Sora crazy with want and lust.

Sora moaned into Riku's mouth and lightly bounced on Riku's lap, with his hands tight in his hair. The stimulation on his private places driving him wild.

Riku can't even believe what's happening and holds on to Sora tightly as he grinds on him. Riku thrusts up lightly on Sora's ass and bites Sora's lip and tries desperately not to cum in his pants. Sora is so much- too much. Too good.

Riku moaned Sora's name then breathlessly and Vanitas is positively enthralled. Vanitas then ripped Sora off of Riku's lap and threw him back on the bed in a rush. He removed his hands from Sora's pants only to push the garment down and off his body before he took all of Sora into his mouth abruptly. Sora cried out in pleasure and held his hands up to face.

"Vanitas!"

Vanitas smirked around him and swallowed him down. His hands started to roam Sora's body as he sucked and Sora whined breathlessly. Sora looked to Riku and flushed seeing his predatory gaze.

Riku was in shock and awe again. Vanitas was... he couldn't believe his eyes. Sora looked so delectable as Vanitas moved his head up and down. Riku licked his own lips unconsciously. He wanted to touch too.

Sora reached for him suddenly. "Riku... come here..." he pleaded, wanting to kiss Riku again now that he was allowed to do so.

Vanitas smirked knowingly and sat up from Sora's cock then. He licked his lips and grinned. "He's all yours Riku, nice and ready for you." He laughed and pulled Riku by the arm to sit in front of Sora's open legs.

Riku sat in silence, looking at all Sora's exposed skin and started to a little nervous suddenly, seeing Sora's naked lower half, his cock red and leaking. Riku swallowed.

Vanitas hummed again in amusement and moved up behind Riku this time and rested his head on his shoulder instead. Riku looked at him with confusion. Vanitas just widened his smirk and moved his hands around either side of Riku and placed them on his pants now.

"I'll help you Riku. It's easy." Vanitas whispered as he slowly undid his belt and unbuttoned Riku's jeans.

Riku swallowed again and just watched. Sora looked up as well with wonder in his eyes.

Vanitas reached into Riku's pants and placed his hand on Riku's length.

"Wow, big boy huh?" He grinned feel it and Riku blushed and held back a moan.

Sora sat up on his arms, trying to see for himself and Vanitas smiled at him before pulling Riku from his pants so Sora could watch. Vanitas looked down at the prize in his hands, and rubbed it thoughtfully with his finger tips.

Sora watched with his fingers in his mouth. Riku was pretty big, and he moaned quietly thinking about it.

Vanitas smirked. "Like what you see Sora?" He teased Riku some more with his fingers rubbing over the head lightly, and Riku shuttered and he choked back a moan. Sora nodded and leaned back in the bed and spread his legs open wider. Vanitas' eyes shined knowing exactly what Sora wanted.

He pushed against Riku's back to force him closer to Sora and Sora arched up instinctively.

"Put it here Riku. Sora likes it here." Vanitas said into Riku's ear as he touched Sora's tight ring of muscle and guided him to it.

Riku puts his hands on the mattress as he leaned over Sora's body and groaned. How in the Hell did he get in this mess? He was about to connect with Sora in ways he only had dreamed of ! He hoped that if this was some fantasy, he wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

Vanitas watched as Riku let himself sink into Sora's tight heat. He practically purred as he watched them. He admitted they looked really good together and he couldn't help but moan himself at it all. He rubbed Riku's back and sides affectionately too and encouraged him to treat Sora to peak pleasure.

Sora gasped as Riku started to stretch him out, the head of his cock pushing into him deliciously. Sora arched up to meet his thrust and whined. "R-Riku... you're so big.." he rocked his hips up to pull Riku in him farther. He was thicker than Vanitas, and it felt amazing to open up and stretch around the new size. He threw his head back on the pillows once Riku was fully sheathed in his warmth and panted.

Riku shook and groaned. Sora was tight around his cock, and felt positively amazing. It was everything Riku had dreamed about and more. He bit his lip again before he started to thrust into Sora slow and Vanitas then started to stroke Sora's cock. Sora gasped and cried out at all the sensations and licked his lips in pleasure.

Riku leaned back as he started to thrust harder, and watched as Vanitas toyed with Sora's cock. He moaned and shut his eyes, just feeling Sora clench around him deliciously before opening his eyes to watch again.

Sora cried out again in ecstasy. "M-More please..." He begged and arched up from the bed to seek more pleasure. Riku started to pick up his pace and started to fuck into Sora with a new found vigor.

Vanitas is also rock hard at their sides as he watches Riku give into his carnal pleasures. It's so erotic and sexy that he can't help but grab Riku by the chin suddenly and kiss him.

Riku paused mid thrust and gasped into Vanitas' mouth but immediately started to kiss him back roughly. Riku stopped caring at this point and just started to seek his own pleasure too. He started to thrust again into Sora deeper as he reached up and gripped Vanitas by his hair, continuing to kiss him roughly as their tongues met and clashed together.

Sora moaned at the sight of them and Riku felt suddenly overwhelmed. He released Vanitas from his grip and turned his head away as he focused on fucking into Sora's wonderful soft body.

Sora then reached for Vanitas and they instantly started to kiss and Riku just bit his lip as he watched them.

Vanitas brought his hand back to Sora's cock and started to pull at it again while the continued to kiss and Sora whined beautifully. Vanitas swore under his breath.

"There ya go Riku, Fuck him good and deep for me," Vanitas whispered as he started to kiss Sora's chest.

Riku made a choked noise and could not help but cum at that. He thrusted deep into Sora and moaned loudly, his heart beating wildly and his breath coming in short pants.

Sora mewled happily at the feeling of Riku cumming in him, and arched up when Vanitas started jerking him faster. He screwed his eyes shut as he felt his own climax approach.

Once Sora came, the white ropes landing on his chest as he gasped and panted for breath, Vanitas let go of him and backed away to touch himself. Watching Riku have Sora was like a forbidden fruit he had absolutely no idea he wanted until now. Seemed to be a theme with him. What was the saying? Don't deny it, until you've tried it?

Riku leaned back down over Sora's spent form and kissed him again softly. He wrapped himself around Sora's body lovingly and ran a hand through Sora's hair.

After Vanitas chased his own orgasm he sighed and watched as the other two cuddled each other. He started to think about Riku again and started to wonder about Riku's happiness for once. He noticed he liked it when Riku looked happy too. He knew Riku was very unhappy for a long time. And he knew how much he has fought for Sora when Sora didn't even realize. He wondered what it would take for Riku to be happy too, and wondered if the answer was simply being with Sora also. Sora could make even the most darkest light somehow bright again. He smiled at that thought fondly.

Vanitas knew he could get used to the three of them, being in a weird relationship of sorts. He just wondered if Riku would actually mind at all. They may have just had a weird sexual experience together but he wasn't sure Riku even liked him. Vanitas supposed that was his own fault for being so aggressive before.

He would just have to play nice now and see if he could befriend Riku now that they were going to share Sora. He just hoped it would all work out okay in the end.

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Namine looked up into the dark night sky from her window with a small smile. She reached for her sketch pad and opened up to a familiar page and started to add something to a previous drawing. When she was finished she smiled and placed her hand on it fondly.

It was her drawing of Sora and Vanitas, and Namine had the sudden urge within her heart to add Riku holding Sora's hand too. She smiled at it.

"Looks like you found your missing piece, Sora." She nodded and set the drawing down.

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	10. Chapter 10

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Mickey landed his gummy ship in the Land of Departure on the Fifth day since Sora's return. He wanted to speak to the Terra, Aqua and Ventus before they had spoken to the rest of the main group, and had called ahead to offer them a ride to the mysterious tower so he could explain a few things first. They all agreed and waited patiently for Mickey to arrive.

When they saw him, they all smiled as they prepared to leave and were super excited to see Sora after so many years. They smiled at Mickey happily.

Mickey just looked up to them all with a grim expression. "Before we head out, there's something you all should know. Something I need to tell you. It's about Vanitas."

Everyone looks at each other with wide eyes. Vanitas?

"He's back?" Ventus asked with wide eyes.

Mickey frowned. "We don't actually know for sure. The Unversed have been spawning frequently and we didn't know why, but then Riku and I saved Sora within the realm of darkness, and then strangely enough, Sora actually dual wielded with Vanitas' keyblade in battle."

Everyone gasped. Aqua and Terra looked at each other with the same determined expressions. Ventus just looked lost in thought.

Terra then spoke up. "His keyblade? Why would Sora have Vanitas' keyblade? ...Do you think Vanitas is using Sora somehow, maybe to return from the afterlife?"

Mickey nodded. "That's what I was starting to fear. First the unversed, then seeing Vanitas' keyblade and Sora's return? It's just all to much of a coincidence to be not connected in someway."

"Do you think Vanitas is controlling Sora?" Aqua asked trying to piece the puzzle together. "Maybe the reason why Sora survived so long in the realm of darkness was because of Vanitas. I know all to well that the darkness can literally tear a person apart if they aren't strong enough. I can only imagine the pain and suffering Sora must have felt. He could have easily been washed away by the abyss. That could maybe explain why there had been unversed spawning, if Vanitas had already started to control him when he fell into the darkness. Maybe he was using Sora to try to create more of his monsters as a way to lure you guys to the realm of Darkness? Have any unversed spawned since Sora's return?"

Mickey thought for a moment. "I don't actually know, I haven't been to the tower since our return actually. I left Riku and Kairi to help and watch over Sora and so far he seems fine. But you can never tell with the darkness, as it can slowly eat at a persons heart, without them even knowing."

Terra nodded, knowing himself that darkness was a complex idea. He himself had used darkness, but really only to save his friends. He had to use it. He wasn't strong enough otherwise. He knew that if Sora was being controlled by darkness that it could eventually consume him if he wasn't careful. They had to be cautious here.

"What are we going to do if Vanitas is controlling Sora somehow? Do we have a plan for that?" Aqua asked feeling worried for her friend.

Mickey nodded. "Ienzo, Evan and I have come up with a way to trap him. Ienzo seems to think that maybe Vanitas' heart is inside of Sora's, like Ven's was. And if it's true and he is inside of Sora and is controlling him, then we plan to extract him from Sora and place him inside of a replica. That way when Vanitas is locked inside it, we can keep him from hurting anyone else. Keep him contained. No one will ever have to suffer from his actions again. Hopefully It does not have to come to that, as I hope it's just some big misunderstanding, but with Vanitas, we can't just brush this aside. We have to be sure. He's too dangerous."

Ventus looked shocked at all that. He looked at the ground then, deep in thought. After all this time, Vanitas could be back? And Vanitas could possibly be controlling Sora? He felt his heart squeeze when he thought about Vanitas' return. When he last saw Vanitas, it was in the Keyblade Graveyard 10 years ago, when Sora disappeared.

The last thing Vanitas had said was "I am darkness." He chose to be complete darkness. But was that /really/ what he wanted to be? Ven wanted to believe there was still someway to possibly save him, redeem him, even after everything that had happened. Vanitas was part of Ventus, and it hurt to feel like they were still on opposite sides. He wanted them both to meet in the middle somehow, and create an equilibrium of sorts. He worried about Sora though. If Vanitas was trying to come back, and was still calling himself pure darkness, what could that mean for Sora's light?

Mickey said they wanted to trap Vanitas, which didn't feel exactly right either. He wasn't sure how to feel about it all. But, he knew what he should do.

He needed to speak to Sora. Before Terra and Aqua got to him. He needed to find out for himself what was going on. He quickly excused himself to use the restroom, feigning ignorance and saying it would be quick when the trio asked him to hurry so they could depart in the gummy ship together.

He rushed from the room only to race outside and slam his hand on his shoulder pad and created his familiar keyblade armor and glider ship and quickly sped off to the mysterious tower before anyone could notice.

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Sora found himself sitting outside by the familiar crystal lake again as he drew more pictures with Namine. He smiled and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear as he leaned over his sketch pad to draw more lumpy shapes on his paper with his pencil. He smiled when he had drawn a goofy looking unversed Meow Wow with its tongue out and stumpy legs and then started to draw more of them in a lumpy pile thinking about how cute they would all be.

Vanitas lounged next to them in the grass again, petting the creatures in question with a soft smile as he dozed off like a cat in the warm sun.

Earlier, Sora had woken up and turned in his bed to see Riku still sleeping soundly next to him and he smiled, feeling happy. Sora could tell that Vanitas was happy too, as he snuggled up closer to Riku and kissed him softly. Riku awoke to Sora's soft lips on his own and melted into them.

Riku couldn't believe it. It wasn't a dream.. well, it /was/ in a dream, but it was real, it had happened, just the same.

They continued to lazily kiss one another until Riku finally got up to use the restroom and the pair then had descended down the stairs for breakfast.

Riku then parted ways with Sora when they were finished and went to go spar with Axel and Kairi and then Sora left to hang out with Namine for the rest of the morning.

All was peaceful for them, until suddenly a hole opened in the sky and Ventus popped out of it, over the lake. He road his keyblade over the surface of the water and drove right over to the group.

Sora and Namine both looked up at him in shock. "Ventus??" Sora asked moving to stand.

Vanitas sat up with wide eyes.

"Sora!!" Ventus yelled as he jumped from his keyblade and removed his armor. Sora and Namine both ran up to him.

"Ventus! It's been ages!!" Sora said and hugged Ventus close then, smiling brightly. He actually missed Ven a lot and didn't even realize until he saw him. He felt himself shed a tear in happiness and moved to wipe it away.

"Sora, I'm so glad your back! But listen, there's something i need to ask you, okay?" Ventus gripped Sora's shoulders and looked into his eyes desperately.

Sora blinked and nodded. "What is it Ven?" He could only imagine that it was probably about Vanitas in someway and he felt fear start to creep into his heart.

Vanitas got up then and placed a warm hand on the back of Sora's neck in attempt to sooth his fears and he watched Ventus carefully.

His true other half, Ventus. It had been a long time since he had seen him. He wondered what Ven would think about him now if he knew just what he had been up to all this time.

Ventus took a breath. "Sora, is Vanitas with you?" He asked point blank, figuring it was the best way to get the truth.

Sora recoiled and took a step back. "Vanitas? W-why do you ask about him Ven?" He started to feel extremely worried.

Ventus pressed. "Unversed have been spawning Sora, and Mickey told Terra and Aqua that you used Vanitas' keyblade in the realm of darkness. They think he's controlling you somehow, and that he is trying to return. Is that true?"

Sora gasped. "What? No! He's not controlling me!" He felt upset, and Vanitas continued to rub Sora's back affectionately, hoping no unversed would suddenly start spawning. That would just be icing on the cake really, to possibly confirm to Ven that Vanitas was controlling Sora in someway.

"But he's with you, isn't he?" Ventus asked feeling like it had to be true. Vanitas was not dead. He could tell that much.

Sora looked at Namine, who was looking back with a small smile. She nodded once encouragingly, and Sora sighed, thankful for her help.

"Yes, Vanitas is with me. When I fell to the realm of darkness, he saved me. He fixed my broken heart. He's not controlling me. He's helping me. If he hadn't helped me I would have disappeared completely. And he continues to help me even now." And Sora held a hand to his heart.

Ventus watched him. "He's in your heart?"

Sora nodded. "He filled in the gaps that were broken from me. He made up the difference. He actually cares about me, Ven. And I care about him. He's not evil, he's not complete darkness. Once he merged with me, Some of my light is in him now, and he is in me. We complete each other now."

Ventus thought about all the times Vanitas wanted to join with him and then thought about Sora. Sora didn't turn into a crazy x-blade or anything like that... he didn't look possessed or corrupted by darkness.

Had Vanitas really changed? Was he really helping Sora? But why would he even want to do that? Ventus thought back to when him and Vanitas both fell in battle all those years ago and felt his heart squeeze. If Ventus had gone to Sora's heart after that fight, then maybe Vanitas did too? His heart was directly tied to Sora's too after all , they even shared the same face to prove it. So, it could make some sense if Vanitas was actually in Sora's heart the whole time, just like Ven was.

But if that was true then they had never actually freed him from Sora's heart. they would have fell to the realm of darkness together then. Sora has been both their second chances at life, and now it seemed like Vanitas was doing the same thing for Sora.

"So do you talk to Vanitas, Sora?" He asked finally, wondering how their connection worked exactly.

Sora nodded and smiled. "We talk, I see him in my dreams at night. And during the day, I feel him in my heart. He's always watching over me, even right now, I can feel him. He seems happy."

"He's happy?" Ventus thought for a moment. Vanitas being happy was a foreign thought. But he knew he wanted his other half to be Happy. Everyone deserved some happiness.

Ventus then sighed and smiled. "It you both are happy, and you are not hurting anyone, then maybe it's not all bad? ...But what are Vanitas' intentions exactly?" He asked then.

Sora blinked. "His intentions? ...He just wants to help me, and I want to help him. I want Vanitas to be happy, that's what we both want. We had both been suffering for so long in different ways, but we both helped each other find some happiness in life again."

Ventus smiled then. He knew Sora would be alright. Sora had a strong heart and was always willing to help people who needed it. His heart was always open to love people. It was his best quality. Ventus felt his own heart warm when he thought about Vanitas and Sora being happy together and knew that if anyone could quell the darkness in Vanitas' soul, it would be Sora. Their second chance.

"Okay, I believe you, Sora." Ventus grinned and chuckled. "If anyone can help Vanitas, of course it would be you. I just hope that you both can remain happy together. We need to tell Terra and Aqua that you're not being controlled by darkness so they don't make any rash decisions."

He did not tell Sora about Mickey's plan, hoping that he wouldn't even have to mention it if he could just speak to Terra and Aqua first. They just had to listen to him !

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Mickey, Terra and Aqua all stepped into the mysterious tower in a rush. Ventus had run off and Aqua was fretting like a mother hen over her chick.

When they arrived, Axel, Kairi, Riku, Roxas and Xion all greeted them with warm smiles.

"You guys it's been ages!" They all laughed and smiled to one another.

Aqua looked worried though. "Have you guys seen Ven?" She asked desperately.

Terra also looked worried. "He disappeared before we left and we thought he might have came here?"

Everyone frowned.

Kairi spoke up. "We haven't seen him, but Sora and Namine are outside still , maybe they saw him?"

Aqua and Terra nodded determinedly and immediately turned to go outside in search for their friend.

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Sora Ven and Namine all started to walk back to the tower to wait for Terra and Aqua. They all smiled as they walked together, and Sora felt a flutter of glee when he saw Ven reach out for Namine's hand as they were walking. Well that was cute!! He thought and was happy for them. They both deserved happiness too, and maybe they could find it in each other?

Namine smiled at Ventus sweetly, and they all walked together back to the tower.

"Ven!" Terra and Aqua called from afar and the 3 stopped in their tracks and turned to see them. They ran up to Ventus in a fret, thinking something terrible had happened to their friend after he left without a trace.

Ventus frowned, feeling bad for making them worry but he shook his head. "I'm sorry I left without saying anything! But I needed to talk to Sora."

Terra and Aqua then acknowledged Sora finally with wide eyes.

"Sora!" They both said and smiled to him, seeing him alive again.

Sora looked at them and smiled back. "Hi everyone!" He waved happily.

Namine also said hello to them sweetly.

Terra was instantly on alert and sized Sora up. He certainly looked like the same ball of Sunshine he had seen previously, but he knew that darkness could hide itself inside of him. He would need to be careful.

Aqua was instantly worried too. She wanted to believe Sora was okay, but wasn't too sure. They both smiled at Sora with a sad sort of look.

Riku suddenly ran up to the group as well. Sora perked up at the sight of him. "Riku!" He smiled to him when he reached the group.

Riku looked surprised. "I see you found Ven, I guess I don't have to look now." He smiled at them all and stood closer to Sora unconsciously.

Riku was instantly a little worried about how the new three would react to Sora if they found out about Vanitas. Riku knew that they had a history and if they found out about him it probably wouldn't turn out very good. He didn't want anything to happen to Sora though. And he kind of cared about Vanitas now too in a way. He wasn't too sure how he felt, but knew that Sora cared for him very deeply. And so to hurt Vanitas would be to hurt Sora. And that just wasn't going to fly.

Riku wanted to talk to Aqua, having the strongest bond with her out of the three and wanted to see her opinions and thoughts. What would Aqua say about all this? He then asked her to walk with him so he could ask her his questions in private. The two walked off together in silence.

Ventus reached for Terra. "I need to speak with you too please, can we go over here?" Terra nodded and followed his friend away from Sora and Namine, who decided to just go back to the tower now and see what Kairi and the gang were up too.

Ven sighed as he pulled Terra away. "Terra its Sora. He does have Vanitas inside of him," he began and started to say more but Terra spoke up in shock.

"Vanitas is inside of Sora? Are you sure?" Terra asked getting strangely intense.

Ventus sighed. "Yes but listen to me okay! Vanitas is not evil. He's not controlling Sora okay? He helped Sora survive in the realm of darkness. They are actually happy together! They aren't hurting anyone, so we don't need to do anything rash okay!" He pleaded and hopped Terra would listen to him.

"Did Sora tell you that? We have to be sure Ven, what if Vanitas was making him say all that stuff? You know how cruel he can be." Terra said as he crossed his arms.

Ventus shook his head in desperation. "No! He's not making a Sora say anything, Sora is strong Terra , he's not going to let Vanitas push him around. They are happy together! Can't we just leave him be?"

Terra sighed. "Let's go back and see him huh? Maybe we can see if he truly is strong enough."

Ventus sighed and nodded. "I want to find Aqua too though and tell her. I'll find you after I get her and we can all go together okay?"

Terra smiled. "Alright Ven, together."

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Aqua and Riku walked along the path outside that led them to a nice beautiful flower garden. Aqua smiled softly at some lotus flowers before turning to Riku with a grim expression.

"How has Sora been since his return Riku?" Aqua asked and looked at him.

"He's been doing well, slowly readjusting, but he's still the same Sora that I remember." Riku said with a small smile.

"Have you sensed anything.. off about him?" Aqua asked.

Riku blinked. "Off? Like what do you mean?"

"Do you think darkness has affected him at all Riku?" She finally asked and Riku shook his head.

"Darkness? No I don't think darkness has affected him. He had a little bit of trouble eating when he first came back, but he got over that fairly quickly." Riku replied.

"He had trouble eating?" Aqua mumbled feeling sad at that, her mother hen tendencies kicking in. She frowned and turned back to Riku.

"Riku, have you heard of a man called Vanitas?" She asked , changing the subject.

Riku tried to hold in his surprise and not show any real emotion. Yeah, he knew Vanitas. But he played ignorant.

"Who is that?" He asked and Aqua sighed.

"He's someone that we have been fighting for a long time. He's hurt my friends and tried to separate us all. He's done ...horrible things. Mickey seems to think that he could have returned with the resurgence of the Unversed, and I hope he's not right. Vanitas is dangerous. He will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants. You must be careful around him Riku." Aqua said with a determined look on her face. If Vanitas was around, she would not let him hurt her friends again.

Riku listened to her words and felt himself frown. "Dangerous?"

Aqua nodded. "You must try to stay away from his influence, he will try anything to get his way, try to trick you and deceive you even. He will not stop until he gets what ever it is he wants. He will literally do anything, even hurt people. We must be very careful if he does show up."

Riku swallowed and nodded slowly. He will trick and deceive... Riku thought about last night and wondered if that was all a trick to deceive him.

Although the whole experience was weird, he didn't feel like it was a trick, and Sora truly looked happy. But what if there was some ulterior motive? Riku frowned, and remembered what Sora had said to him before, that he loved Vanitas. For Sora to say he loved someone, well, it wasn't something to be taken lightly. He must truly care about Vanitas, and if he did, Vanitas could not be as dangerous as Aqua was making him seem.

But he nodded to Aqua anyway and told her he would be careful.

Ventus suddenly ran up to them panting for breath. "Aqua! Riku!"

"Ven!" Aqua cries feeling worried over him instantly. Ven held his hands up to stop her from fussing over him.

"I'm fine Aqua I just needed to talk to you, it's really important." Ven replied before continuing. "It's about Sora. He told me that he does have Vanitas inside of him."

Riku felt shock and stepped back. Sora told Ven? Well , it shouldn't be that surprising, as Vanitas came from Ventus, apparently. So it's only natural Sora would want to talk to him. But now what was Aqua going to say?

Aqua gasped and held a hand to her heart. Her worst fear was coming true, Vanitas was returning, and he was in Sora just like Mickey thought. This was awful!

"But listen Aqua! Sora told me Vanitas saved him, and that he's not evil anymore. We don't need to worry that he is trying to hurt someone. He's with Sora now and Sora wouldn't let him hurt anyone." Ventus said quickly trying to reign in Aquas fears about Vanitas.

Aqua frowned. "How can you be for certain though? Vanitas likes to trick and deceive and could have easily swayed Sora somehow."

Riku felt his eyebrows furrow. "Are you saying you don't trust Sora, Aqua? If he says Vanitas isn't evil, then I would like to be inclined to believe him."

Aqua scoffed. "I didn't say I don't trust Sora. I said I don't trust Vanitas, which all of you shouldn't trust anything he says."

Things were starting to turn sour within their little group.

Ven spoke up then with his hands up. "Hey ! Let's just go talk to Sora then and see what he says? Terra is already there waiting for us. We can all talk to him together and figure it out!"

Aqua and Riku both frowned but nodded. Each feeling like they were suddenly standing on opposing sides now. And it worried both of them.

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Terra found Sora watching over all his friends spar against each other with their keyblades. He smiled and moved to sit next to Sora.

"Hey Sora," he spoke evenly, "how are you?"

"Oh Terra! Hi! I'm good, how are you?" Sora smiled at him warmly. Even though Sora could sense that Vanitas seemed uneasy around the older Keyblade Masters, he still smiled brightly and was kind to them.

Terra looked out at the friends as they practiced fighting each other with their blades and watched fondly.

"I'm good. Better now, after everything." Terra began and leaned back to look into the sky. " I struggled with the darkness for a long time...I was trying to help my friends, but the darkness almost consumed me while I was doing it. I almost let it. I wasn't strong enough in the end and Xehanort trapped me for all those years. But then, my friends, they were there for me. They were watching over me and brought me back to the light. I wouldn't be who I was without my friends."

Terra smiled and looked back to Sora. "I'd like to be your friend too Sora. I'd like to get to know you better, so that we too can help each other when we need it. It's what friends would do for each other."

Sora looked at him with awe. "Wow Terra, I never knew all that. I'll gladly be your friend though! You can never have to many!" He smiled brightly.

Terra nodded and smiled back. He looked back to the keybladers and thought for a moment.

"You want to spar with me Sora?" He asked feeling like that could maybe be a fun activity to do now that Sora was back.

"Okay, Sure!" Sora smiled and stood. He held out his hand and tried to summon his keyblade.

He didn't summon a keyblade though.

Sora frowned. "My keyblade..?" He had not tried once to summon his keyblade since his return to the realm of light, but what did that mean , if he couldn't summon it?

Terra had a moment of realization.

"Oh that's right, your keyblade! Well, when you disappeared, we left it with the others..."

Sora blinked again in question. "The others...?"

Terra shook his head. "We can go get it! Let's go Sora, I'll take you to it."

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Aqua Ven and Riku met back up with the main group and looked for Terra and Sora. Riku furrowed his brow and called out to Kairi who jogged over to see them.

"What's up guys?" She called once she reached them, "Wanna spar with us? I can show you all the cool moves I've learned!" She held up her keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, and slashed at the air a few times.

Riku shook his head. "Have you seen Sora and Terra anywhere? We really need to talk to them."

Kairi nodded. "Oh yeah, you just missed them! I think they left to go get Sora's keyblade back."

Riku's eyes widened at that. "They went alone?"

Aqua felt uneasy also. "Riku lets go together and meet them there."

Ventus spoke up. "I'm going too!" He demanded. Aqua nodded to him.

Kairi allowed the three of them to walk off to the gummy ship and felt some worry in her heart.

She needed to find some paper. And a pen. She suddenly felt the need to write.

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Sora and Terra had arrived at the Fated Place, once again.

The Keyblade Graveyard.

Sora's keyblade was here, after he had fallen to the realm of darkness, all those years ago. Terra and Sora walked along the X marked path to the center, where Sora's kingdom key was stabbed into the ground. There were flowers and nicknacks surrounding the keyblade like a makeshift memorial.

It /was/ a memorial.

Sora felt his heart ache as he looked at it.

"Well, you can grab it now. It's your keyblade after all." Terra said as he watched Sora look at it.

Sora just continued to look at it for a long moment. He shook his head finally and turned away.

"No, I don't think it is mine anymore. I couldn't call it before. I think that part of me is gone now. I'm a different person since then." Sora smiled knowing that it was okay to change, to grow. He was a better person because of it. He didn't need this keyblade anymore and felt a sense of awakening in him. Like he had just turned the page on a new chapter in his life. Things would be okay.

Terra frowned though. "That part of you is gone? You're a different person?" He questioned and thought.

Sora looked up into the sky as the sun was starting to set over the horizon and he took a deep breath before nodding.

Terra paced behind Sora. Thinking. He stopped pacing when he decided he was done thinking.

Sora then heard the telltale noise of a Keyblade being summoned and he turned to look at Terra.

Terra has summoned his keyblade, Ends of the Earth, and pointed it at Sora.

"Pick up your keyblade, Sora." He said firmly.

Sora swallowed and stepped back a step. "Terra?" He questioned and felt sense of fear.

Vanitas instantly was fucking worried. But what could he do right now?

Terra just looked more determined. "Pick up your keyblade, Sora. I want to see just how much of a different person you are." Terra knew then that Sora might actually be under the influence of Darkness. But- He had to be sure. He had to see it with his own eyes.

Sora backed away. "I don't want to fight, Terra!" He felt frightened and tried to stay back from him.

Terra then just lunged at him, swinging his blade at Sora, and Sora cried out and rotated away in a panic.

He started to run away, trying to get away from Terra. What the heck was Terra doing!!?

Terra ran after him and slashed again, only meeting air.

Sora tripped over a fallen keyblade as he was running and twisted around desperately as he fell, just as Terra was going to slash at him again. Sora held his hand up in fear, and summoned the keyblade, Voidgear into his hands, right as Terra brought his blade down.

They clashed together angrily in a blinding light and Terra was pushed back by the force.

Terra looked up in shock. It was Vanitas' keyblade, he would know it anywhere.

He was right. Mickey was right. Sora was being controlled by Vanitas. The physical proof staring him right in the face.

He stood tall again and readied his blade, ready to do what ever it took to try and save Sora from Vanitas' influence.

Today, He would set this right.

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	11. Chapter 11

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Terra stood tall and held his keyblade, Ends of the Earth, tight in his grip.

Sora stood on his feet, holding Vanitas' Keyblade, Voidgear in his hand. He didn't want to fight Terra, but Terra wasn't not going to stop.

Terra yelled across the Keyblade Graveyard in anger. "Vanitas! I knew it!! Sora- he's not safe! If you can still hear me, you need to fight him. Let me help you defeat him."

Sora frowned and held his blade up in defense. "Vanitas is not controlling me! He helps me! Please!" He cried and felt fear and sadness creep into his heart and could not help but spawn unversed around them in clusters.

Terra moved quickly then and angrily as he started to slash at the creatures with disgust and hatred in his heart.

"No!" Sora yelled in pain and fell to his knee with his Keyblade stabbed into the dirt holding him upright. He struggled to stand right as Terra tried to swing at him again. He leaned back and brought his keyblade back up to defect the blow.

More unversed started spawning in Sora's fear and Terra turned to them when they started to close in on him. He swung and sliced at the unversed and Sora cried out in agony.

Vanitas started to stretch out and try to take over, but Sora held him back, fearful for Terra, and what they both would do. Sora continued to run, back to where the ship was landed but would trip over each unversed that was killed by Terra's hands. He fell finally in agony and gritted his teeth as felt the pain wash over him.

Vanitas tried to take over again , but Sora held him back.

"Sora!!!!" A new voice had called out and Sora felt his heart soar. It was Riku, thank god, and he arrived with Ven and Aqua by his side. When the pair reached each other, Riku knelt to Sora who was still collapsed on the ground in pain with tears in his eyes.

"Sora, are you alright!!?" He asked desperately, but then he saw Voidgear, Vanitas keyblade and heard Aqua suck in a gasp. She readied her own keyblade, Rainfell, and backed away from them both , pulling Ventus with her.

Ventus jerked in her grasp. "What gives Aqua? Sora is hurt!"

Terra then appeared from the sidelines and held his keyblade ready. "Riku! you need to step back. Sora has Vanitas inside of him. I'm trying to get him to come out. I don't want to have to fight you too if you stand in the way."

Aqua blinked but quickly moved to Terras side, knowing Terra was serious, and was ready to do anything to defeat Vanitas, once and for all.

Riku helped Sora stand shakily and shook his head desperately. "We don't have to fight! Vanitas is helping Sora! Not using him! Stop fighting him and you'll see!"

Terra moved closer and prepared himself to attack again. "We will see, when we fight - Vanitas will come out, he won't be able to resist and then we will all see the truth. We will set this right!" He yelled and swung at Sora, and Riku instinctively summoned his keyblade, Braveheart, into his hands stopping Terra's blow in an instant.

Ventus gasped as he saw Riku almost seemingly teleport in front of Sora suddenly. He rubbed his eyes and almost thought he imagined it.

Sora stood with the keyblade Voidgear in his grip. He moved to his fighting stance reluctantly and moved to Riku's side.

Aqua also moved back to Terra's side and Ventus watched on in horror and his two groups of friends started to fight each other, in a terrible battle.

Aqua paired off to fight Riku and keep him distracted as Terra kept chasing Sora down. Terra would swing his keyblade violently as he tried to connect a hit. Sora would block and dodge until he fell again, feeling himself grow weaker and more unversed start to spawn around them. Riku immediately backed up after seeing the unversed, while Aqua started to attack the things, wanting to protect herself from them.

Right as Aqua had destroyed an unversed, Terra swung his blade again, and this time Sora was not ready. It hit him in the chest and he flew back in an instant by the force of the blow. Riku felt his blood run cold as he saw Sora get tossed backwards. While Riku was watching Sora, Aqua had come up behind him and blasted him with a spell and Riku recoiled in pain and anger at them.

"You're done!" Riku said angrily as he turned to her and and tried to disarm her.

Terra went in ahead to follow Sora who had been thrown back quite a distance.

He found Sora in a pile of rubble as he struggled to get up. Terra held his keyblade at him.

Vanitas then demanded that he come out right that instant, and Sora sighed and let him. As Terra brought his blade down, Vanitas held up Voidgear to block and looked at Terra right into his eyes. Terra gasped seeing Sora with bright yellow.

Vanitas had come out. Just as he predicted.

Vanitas held nothing back as he fought Terra away, pushing him back. Terra blocked and evaded as Vanitas moved around him.

Both Aqua and Riku had ran back to meet their fighting partners. Riku instinctively moved to stand by Sora's side and knew instantly that Sora was no longer there and that Terra had forced Vanitas to come out. He looked back and saw bright yellow eyes but nodded determinedly. They had to win this fight or else.

The four clashed together in a big cloud. They parried blows and blocked attacks but Aqua had managed to hit Riku pretty hard.

Riku fell back with a gasp as he clutched his side, feeling blood, and Vanitas stopped and growled angrily when he saw Riku's hand pull away from the wound coated in red.

Vanitas yelled bitterly at that and was furious. He summoned a second keyblade, Riku's old keyblade, Soul Eater, into his left hand then and slashed at Aqua, feeling all the pent up rage and anger in himself and it fueled his swing. He connected with her chest and she went flying backwards.

"Take that, Master!!" Vanitas snarled at her as she was hit.

Terra yelled angrily as Aqua was hurt. He slammed his fist in his shoulder pad and summoned his keyblade armor around himself.

"Enough is enough! Now it's time to end this, Vanitas!" He cried and lunged to swing at Vanitas blindly.

Terra's Rage had been Awakened.

He managed to get Vanitas cornered and aimed his keyblade at his chest, ready to stab at his heart and destroy him. But as his blade connected he was pushed back by another blinding light.

Terra stepped back and shielded his eyes and when the light faded Sora stood tall in a dark flowing gown, holding the two keyblades at his sides. Sora looked at Terra, with his now purple eyes, and just simply frowned before starting to fight him sadly, using his two keyblades against Terra's one. They fought and clashed and twisted around each other violently. Neither budging an inch.

Suddenly though there was a new voice in the mix. It was Ventus who was holding Aqua up and Riku was not far behind. They all weakly joined together at the top of the precipice.

"Please, don't fight anymore!!" Ventus cried while releasing Aqua from his grip. He wanted to rush in and stop them, but Riku grabbed him before he could, trying to protect Ventus from the chaotic fight. Terra gritted his teeth at Riku grabbing on Ventus so and practically flew over there and hit Riku with his keyblade, sending him flying again.

"Don't you touch him, Riku." Terra said as he swung.

Sora yelled in desperation. "Riku!"

He started to run to him, but then Terra tried to strike him. Sora started to spawn more unversed unconsciously as he tried to keep up with Terra's quick pace.

Sora eventually got hit and it instantly hurt , there was a lot of blood. He could feel his anger building , the rage in him building. He didn't try to hold it back any longer though, feeling himself grow weaker by the minute. He had to do something, or Terra would likely kill him.

Sora jerked his body violently and let the blackness cover his skin. The black ink tendrils swept around him widely as his eyes became red.

He teleported in front of Terra and stabbed one of the keyblades it to the ground as he spun around it and used his other keyblade to slice at Terra if he got to close.

Sora quickly teleported around and slashed at Terra wildly. Unseeing anymore, as he had let himself go to his Rage.

A whole new Form for him.

Sora continued to slash at Terra and blood started to pool on the ground below. Ventus gasped and cried out to stop the madness and Sora turned to look to at him, unseeing and not understanding.

Ventus just ran up blindly and hugged Sora close as he started to cry.

"Please Sora ! I know you're in there !! please ! We won't take Vanitas away from you, please just stop!"

Sora stood still for a moment. Unseeing. He took a deep breath suddenly and released it with a huff. The black inky darkness washed away from Sora then, and Sora stood in his familiar gown again. His eyes purple once more, and tears started to well up in them. Sora fell to his knees in Ventus' grasp as they held each other.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please! Please don't take Vanitas away from me! I need him! He needs me! Please!" Sora pleaded and begged, crying desperately.

Ventus cried too and just nodded holding Sora tightly. "it's okay, it's okay! I know, I understand! I won't let them take Vanitas."

Vanitas feels his own heart ache at that. Ventus saved Sora just now. Ven had also become Sora's second chance. Vanitas wanted to Hug Ventus then with all of his heart.

In the midst of them talking , Mickey and Master Yen Sid arrived through a portal of light.

Mickey looks to the mess of the battle and shook his head. "We're ready for Sora now guys." He said sadly, fully ready to transport Sora to Ienzo to be separated from Vanitas.

Sora looked up at them in terror as Master Yen Sid started to walk to him. Ready, to snatch Sora up.

Sora pushed away from Ventus in fear and backed away. More unversed spawned and started to close in and Mickey held out his hand worriedly. "Sora please come with us! We just want to help you!"

Sora screamed back in fear. "I won't let you kill us both!" he suddenly spawned a dark portal and jumped through it. It dematerialized immediately after.

Sora found himself back at the lake suddenly, at the mysterious tower and fell he to the grass in anguish. He stared at ground as tears fell and he let himself sob for what felt like hours. Many Unversed slowly gathered around him. Vanitas was there but was also heartbroken at what he just saw. He slowly pulled Sora into their dream and they just held each other close and let tears fall.

Vanitas rubbed Sora's back soothingly. He could not believe it. Sora's friends had turned on him and now they basically wanted to kill them both by separation. They didn't understand just how fused Vanitas and Sora were now and that it was not that simple. It would literally kill one of them.

Eventually after awhile, after all Sora's sobs had ended, Vanitas started to kiss him softly and gently, and together they soon made love under the bright lights of the stars in the sky. Simply holding each other close, the two let the pain wash away together.

Right there, next to the crystal clear lake, in a dream within their hearts.

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Riku was absolutely furious.

They thought they were doing what was right, but was practically killing Sora right?

They tried to speak to him, but Riku just ignored them as he was pissed. Ventus spoke up finally as Riku readied to leave the Keyblade Graveyard.

"let me go with you Riku! I want to help find them!"

Riku nodded feeling relief that Ventus still knew what was right.

Ventus hurried to Riku's side where they both started to run towards their ship quickly.

When they got in the ship and took off though, Riku let his thoughts come back. Sora only did those things when he was literally pushed into it. He would never harm anyone and is so Selfless. Riku couldnt even Believe the other masters. They were all so quick to give up and say darkness was bad. But Riku knew better then anyone that not all darkness was evil. That there needed to be a balance in the world.

They continued to fly to the destination. Knowing Sora would probably go back to the tower, if anything, and if not they could round up the Troops to make a mini army. Riku knew that Kairi, Axel, Roxas, Xion and Namine each would stand up for what was right.

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Mickey and Master Yen Sid watched as Sora, Riku and Ventus had all left. Aqua stood up shakily as she helped Terra stand and felt sadness flow through her.

"Are you sure it's the only way?"

Yen Sid nodded then, standing tall and sure. "You saw Sora go into that final form. He was dangerous to us and himself. It needs to happen."

Master Yen Sid then let Terra, Aqua, Mickey leave through his light portal before closing it and opening a second one, set to a new destination. He sighed and stepped though and was met with a familiar crystal lake on his familiar plot of land, at the mysterious tower.

The Master looked down and saw Sora curled up asleep, and he just shook his head at Sora's simplicity. Even when running away, he still went home. A pity.

Master Yen Sid then used his magic to levitate Sora's body and took him with through the portal, ready to see the deed done overwith with already.

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	12. Chapter 12

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Mickey sighed to himself sadly as he watched Master Yen Sid levitate Sora onto a metal table in the lab.

It was now, or never. Evan started to work at the machines as Ienzo then moved to strap Sora down to the table. They made all the necessary arrangements before nodding to Mickey.

Evan walked up to him with a creepy grin, excited that his greatest life's work was about to be complete. He had perfected a replica specifically created to house Vanitas until the end of his days.

"Everything is ready Mickey, we are ready when you are." He smirked before moving back to stare at his empty replica that was waiting on a separate table. He could not wait to study Vanitas once he was trapped. It would become his new mission to study and test on Vanitas and see just how much darkness he held inside. It was fascinating.

Mickey sighed again sadly. He felt sorrow for Sora, but knew it had to be done. Vanitas had hurt too many people, and they knew he would only hurt Sora more if he stayed.

Yen Sid then nodded. Ready to finish this. Evan and Ienzo turned their machine on.

A lazer like eye gazed down and shot a ray of light directly into Sora's heart.

Sora instantly awoke and screamed in complete and utter agony. His heart was being cut straight down the middle. It burned and bled deep in his soul and he screamed like he was dying.

Mickey watched while all color drained from his face. This felt wrong, but they must. They had too.

He tried not to listen to Sora's screams, ringing in his ears.

"NO PLEASE!" Sora cried in despair and shook against the bindings holding him down as he tried to get away. He cried and choked on his own tears as the light continued to cut him apart.

He could feel Vanitas in the same blinding pain, unable to escape from it. They screamed together then, in a horrific ghostly wail, their voices both echoing in the halls of the lab.

Sora fell back on the table as the light then finished cutting them apart. It retracted and Sora laid back on the cold tables surface silently as his eyes started to fade. He looked up to the ceiling as a final tear fell down his cheek, and then he was silent. Unmoving.

The machine then turned to the replica and beamed it light into the heart. Slowly, the body transformed and suddenly Vanitas was there.

When the machine had finished, everyone sat up in their seats waiting to see what would happen.

Vanitas opened his eyes, molten gold piercing as he suddenly yelled in unbridled anger. He fought against the binds holding him to the table as he growled and snarled ferociously.

"You MONSTERS!! You KILLED him!!! Sora!!! LET ME GO!! SORA!!" He desperately yelled and fought trying to free himself and quickly everyone rushed up to try to sedate him.

He snarled as Evan brought up a syringe to his neck and he tore himself from the table then, nearly breaking his arm as he twisted away from the bindings.

"NO. GET AWAY!" Vanitas kicked the table and pushed it into them in an panic and it collided with them and pushed them back. He turned and started to run away. He had to get away. He needed help.

He need Riku. Riku would help.

Someone had to help.

Vanitas ran in blind furry through the halls trying to find an exit. He scrambled in fear but let his anger and rage drive him forward and he rushed to the door once he found it.

He ran straight to the ships and climbed into Mickey's swiftly. He would make them all pay for what they had done. He quickly managed to hotwire the ship, bringing the engine to life and sped off to the Mysterious Tower to search for Riku.

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Riku and Ventus stood solemnly as they told the remaining group members everything that had happened. They needed allies and told them the truth. They had explained who Vanitas was and that his true intentions were not to control, but to help, and that he was not evil. They now needed to look for Sora before Mickey and the others got to him. Everyone looked fearful and worried.

"They want to separate them?" Kairi asked and looked with heavy concern. She knew in her heart that something terrible was about to happen. She felt her heart squeeze.

Riku nodded bitterly. "They are going to hurt him. They want to rip Vanitas from him, but they don't realize it will only hurt them both in the end. We need to find him before they do." Riku wanted desperately to find his .. well he didn't know what to call them both, after what had happened between the three of them. But he knew he needed to help them both. He knew that he cared for them and wanted to do what was right. He had to do something.

Suddenly amidst their talking, a gummyship suddenly landed abruptly at the end of the land. Riku looked at it in confusion, knowing it to be Mickeys ship, but who ever was flying it seemed like they had never driven a gummyship in their life before and almost crash landed in the dirt.

Everyone gasped and started to run to the ship.

"Sora?!" Riku asked as he rushed to the door and pried it open.

Vanitas came rushing out with a angry look and his mouth set in a frown. Riku and Ventus gasped when they saw him.

"Vanitas?" Ventus said in a whisper, having not seen Vanitas for over 10 years. It was unreal. This could only mean...

Riku looked instantly worried. "Vanitas?? Where is Sora?!" He knew then by the look in Vanitas' eyes that Sora was not with him.

Something was terribly wrong.

Vanitas gritted his teeth angrily. "They have him. They cut me out of him. He's lying on a table in some.. sterile room at the bottom of a research lab! I had to leave him! They were going to hurt me. I wouldn't have been able to escape. They .. hurt him, Riku. He's... practically dead. When I was cut from him, he stopped moving ... and I don't know if he's even alive anymore! I can't.. I can't FEEL HIM ANYMORE." Vanitas suddenly felt all of his anguish catch back up to him as the adrenaline left his body and fell to his knees, feeling all the pain in his heart. Sora... Vanitas' heart felt empty.

Riku knelt down instantly and pulled Vanitas into a tight hug, and squeezed him close. Everyone watched on with wide eyes, having never seen Vanitas before and suddenly seeing Riku acting very friendly to him was a little surprising. They all then immediately determined that Vanitas could not be as evil as Mickey had said. Evilness was not capable of compassion and heartbreak like Vanitas clearly showed. Their hearts all squeezed as they watched the scene silently.

Vanitas gritted his teeth again in anger as he struggled to hold in tears and wrapped his arms around Riku tightly. "We have to save him, Riku. I need your help. Sora needs you now. I need you now. Please. Help me, help him." He buried his head in Riki's chest as he tried not to let his emotions make him weak. He could not cry. Sora need him to be strong right now. Riku would help, he had to!

Riku sighed sadly and hugged him tighter. He could feel the hurt. He could feel the agony. He could feel the love that was in Vanitas' heart. He felt sorrow well up. His own heart broke. Their hearts were broken, literally, and he needed to piece help them back together again. Riku nodded his head on Vanitas' shoulder and sat back with a determined look, and reached up to cup Vanitas' face softly. He looked into Vanitas' eyes and smiled softly.

"Well, let's go then. All of us. They can't stop all of us from taking him back. We will get him back Vani. I promise."

He looked deep into Vanitas golden eyes and could see the pain he held and Riku wanted to make all that hurt go away. No one should have had to suffer like this. Vanitas and Sora did not deserve what had happened to them. He would fight for them.

Vanitas felt his heart beat in his chest as he looked at Riku in relief, and silently thanked god himself for Riku's kind heart. He knew he could count on Riku, as Riku could never let Sora down. They would save Sora.

They nodded to each other before moving to stand, and Ventus came running up then.

"Vanitas!" He said as he got closer and Vanitas looked at him sadly.

"Ventus." Vanitas frowned and then just hugged Ventus, not having the words to describe everything he wanted to say to him, and Ven gasped clearly not expecting a hug but he instantly hugged him back.

They didn't say anything. They didn't need too. Ventus could clearly see then that Sora was right all along. Vanitas had changed. They just hugged for a moment before parting. Ventus held Vanitas by the shoulder and grinned with determination.

"We'll get Sora back Van, Don't you worry! They won't know what hit them! Right guys!?" He turned and everyone got up with determination and smiles.

Vanitas nodded and sighed. "Let's go then."

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Everyone piled into Mickeys gummyship and was in awe of the sheer size of the spacecraft. It was bigger than any gummy ship they had ever seen, and looked ready to support a whole army inside for long voyages in deep space.

Axel looked at the walls with a grin. "This looks interesting! Anyone mind if I drive?" Roxas and Xion then laughed at him and ran to the cock pit to try to fight for controls. Axel shook his head before turning to Riku and Vanitas. "Where are we going anyway? Kinda need a destination if we wanna head out,"

"Radiant. Garden." Vanitas gritted his teeth angrily, wanting to never set foot there again after all was over.

Axel nodded slowly before walking away sheepishly. "Okay Radiant garden, I got it memorized! I'll get us there in jiff!" He then ran off to fight Xion and Roxas for piloting rights.

Naminé looked up then with a thought in her mind. "Riku, may I talk to you?"

Riku turned to her immediately. "What's up?"

"I think there are some more people we can get to help with our problem, and If you don't mind, I would like to take Ventus with me to go get them, if that would that be alright?" She looked to Ven who smiled and held her hand softly. They both wanted to gather these people who held Sora close. They knew more hearts were connected to his and the more friends that he had the better.

Riku then nodded to them. "Of course. If you believe more people can help us save him then by all means, go on ahead. We'll meet you in Radiant Garden then?"

The pair nodded and then disembarked the ship, before Axel started it up.

Kairi looked fondly at Riku and Vanitas. She saw Vanitas and instantly saw the resemblance to Sora, but knew in her heart that their connection was more than just skin deep. Their hearts were connected. She smiled and moved to them both.

"I know we'll save Sora guys. He holds a strong Dream in his heart and I know he will get to live it with you. We just need to believe." She smiled and touched their arms.

Vanitas looked at her. Kairi. He hadn't really thought about her much before. But he knew she could see something he didn't. Like Namine almost. And he liked Namine, so he then decided he probably liked Kairi too. He nodded determinedly.

Riku nodded too. "Thanks Kairi, you always know just what to say." He smiled at her. She smiled back brightly and then left the pair alone to seek out the cockpit with the rest of the group members inside.

Vanitas and Riku just looked back to each other. Riku grabbed Vanitas' hand then and smiled. "Come on, let's go sit down and rest. We have a long battle ahead and we will need all our strength."

Vanitas followed him silently. He looked at their clasped hands and felt his heart flutter a little. He rolled his eyes, thinking he was such a sap for getting worked up over simple hand holding. But he squeezed Riku's hand affectionately and allowed Riku to lead him.

They made their way to some small dorm rooms and entered one together. Riku flipped off the light and pulled them to the small bed inside and pulled Vanitas to lay with him. They sighed into the blankets and looked at each other softly.

Riku then held out his hand again, and Vanitas took it.

They simply laid like that for awhile. Lost in their thoughts. Vanitas finally looked back to Riku and noticed he had a sad look in his eyes. Vanitas felt his heart twist seeing him so sad, and he suddenly moved up and kissed Riku softly.

Riku sucked in a breath but kissed back. They softly let their lips mold against each other before pulling away.

"Why did you do that?" Riku whispered, his heart starting to race in his chest. Riku wasn't Sora, Vanitas loved Sora, not Riku, ...right?

Vanitas just squeezed Riku's hand in his. "I don't like seeing my... better halves in pain."

Riku swallowed and felt his face flush slightly. "B-better halves?" Vanitas considered Riku to be a part of him? Like Sora was?

Vanitas huffed then and felt his mouth quirks upwards. "Okay then, not halves, but thirds, I guess. Equal parts."

Riku blinked and thought about it.Three equal parts...?

Riku suddenly felt a wave of laughter erupt from him. It was too good!

Vanitas looked at him weirdly and frowned. "What's so funny??"

Riku finally stopped laughing and grinned.

"'Three Half Pints make a Whole' ... it's something Sora once said. ...It's like he already knew the answer to a question that nobody had asked. He already knew in his heart, I think. ...Maybe it was fate, our destiny, to help him." Riku laughed again feeling silly. Sora seemed to always make him smile even when he wasn't even around to do so.

Vanitas smiled then and laughed too. "He would say something as corny as that."

The pair let their giggles leave them as they both leaned into each other happily. Riku looked into Vanitas' eyes and suddenly he felt a need to kiss him again.

Riku leaned down and pressed his lips to Vanitas' and held him close. Vanitas let his hands fly up to Riku's chest and tried to pull him closer, pressing his lips to Riku's eagerly.

They met in their mouths, their tongues rubbing against another and Riku suddenly wanted more. He wanted to make Vanitas' hurt go away, and knew just what to do in that moment. He rolled them both backwards on the bed and Vanitas felt his eyes widen. But he opened up for Riku and relaxed into the bed.

They continued to kiss passionately as Riku started to remove his jacket and threw it to the floor before moving to take Vanitas' shirt off. They separated just to remove both their shirts before meeting back and continued to press hot kisses on each other's mouths. Riku leaned over Vanitas and pressed their chests together, and could feel Vanitas' heart thump wildly in his chest.

Vanitas reached his hands to Riku's hair and arched up into him, wanting to pull him closer. Riku blindly undid their pants and Vanitas suddenly pushed Riku off of him in a rush and sat up.

Riku sat back in a daze. "Are you okay? Do you want to stop?"

Vanitas' heart warmed at that. Riku was so caring. But he shook his head and leaned over Riku and pushed him to lay on his back.

Riku did so and watched Vanitas pull the rest of their clothing off silently. Vanitas rubbed his hands on Riku's legs before straddling his hips. He sat back on Riku and Riku moaned as he sat up slightly and placed his hands on Vanitas thighs.

Vanitas looked down at him and bit his lip and started to grind down on Riku. He felt his breath come out in pants as Riku become more flustered and started to thrust his hips lightly. Vanitas reached back and behind himself to palm Riku's length tenderly before lining it up with himself. He sat back on him with a moan in his throat and Riku immediately sat up and held Vanitas' hips tightly, as he sunk into the tight heat. He leaned up to pull Vantias into a smoldering kiss and Vanitas moaned breathlessly into his mouth when he sat down fully.

So this was how Sora felt all those times? He could get used to this, Vanitas thought as he rocked back and forth on Riku's member. He held onto Riku's shoulders and Riku held Vanitas' hips tightly, and they continued to kiss and take each other's pain away. Their breath intermingling between them as they both felt the bright pleasure wash over them. Vanitas held on to Riku tightly as he bounced on him, and whined as he wanted more.

Riku gripped his hips tightly and felt himself almost growl as he flipped them both so Vanitas was on his back. He took Vanitas' legs and pushed them to rest on his shoulders and Riku leaned over him as he sunk himself into him deeper. Vanitas threw his head back at the sensation and moaned, and Riku instantly started to lick at his neck.

Riku was not feeling shy about sex anymore that's for sure, Vanitas honestly made him feel empowered to do more, and wanted to show Vanitas just what he could do.

Vanitas moaned and tried to push back into Riku to pull him closer. "Riku... fuck..." He said and reached up to pull Riku into another hot kiss. Riku continued to thrust into him more easily now and starts to angle himself on the bundle of nerves deep inside which causes Vanitas to cry out in ecstasy.

"Riku... yes, please... You're so good Riku. So good to us.." he was cut off as Riku brought their lips together again. They both orgasmed together then, each with a choked cry, and they continued to kiss even after they separated.

Vanitas finally pulled away, and laid back in the bed with a huff. Riku then instantly snuggled up to Vanitas side and put his head on his chest. Vanitas smiled and ran a hand through Riku's damp silver hair.

"Thank you.. Riku. For everything. You helped Sora so much when I didn't know how to. And you also helped me. You have a kind heart." Vanitas said and allowed himself to be kinda mushy. It was alright to be a little soft sometimes, and Riku made him feel safe to feel that way. It was nice.

Riku looked up to him. "I should really be thanking you, because without you we would have lost Sora forever."

Vanitas then smiled and shook his head and knew he and Riku would just continue to thank each other just like Namine and Sora did and felt himself chuckle at that.

"We will get him back Riku." Vanitas said then feeling good about everything. "He belongs with us. He deserves happiness. And we are going to give it to him."

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	13. Chapter 13

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He dreamed.

His world was at an end. His heart failing, his light breaking. His body weak. His mind leaving.

His heart wept.

Tears fell, but his eyes wandered. In his dreams, of endless skies. with endless clouds. soaring in endless eyes.

He dreamed.

He dreamt of that endless sky, bleeding into an endless sea, in a world that would go on forever.

A sanctuary. A haven. A life. hope. that one day, just maybe, that one day he would find them again. And if not in the next life, then he would spend a lifetime waiting.

It wasn't a goodbye, No, he would see them again. Sometime.

No more time.

He dreamed.

Of a green umbrella tree. With yellow star shaped fruit. On a small little paradise. With crystal clear waters and cuddly black creatures, dancing around happily in the world, that was carved out just for them.

It wasn't goodbye,it was a promise to meet again,

on their little island home in their make believe land of endless seas and endless sky's where the world would go on forever, their hearts would live on forever.

stars shining. He wept and dreamed. Of endless adventures. of endless summers. under the endless sky. Filled with endless stars of endless worlds in his endless mind.

Endless love.

It wasn't goodbyeIt was "I'll see you again"

If not now, then when?

Endless Skies.

Endless clouds on endless nights in endless hearts inside endless minds.

He cried,but he dreamed.

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It was the morning of the seventh day since Sora's return.

Mickey watched Evan and Ienzo work silently. Sora had not woken since the Split. They tried to keep him stable as they watched over him, worriedly.

The faint trickle of his heart beat came from the monitors and Mickey watched it with sad eyes. It ticked by, ever slow.

Evan and Ienzo were not sure if Sora would even wake up. They would have to run tests on him and see what had happened.

Aqua and Terra came in the room with equal frowns. "Will Sora be alright?" They looked over him worriedly. They didn't mean for this to happen this way. They only wanted to protect their friends from what they thought was evil trying to trick them. They didn't want this though. Sora did not deserve this cruel punishment.

Mickey just sighed. "I honestly don't know. I'm afraid ... we may have broken his heart beyond repair."

They looked shocked and Aqua let tears roll down her face.

Terra clenched his fist. He had caused this. He had caused Sora's heart to break. He was furious with himself. He only wanted to protect the people he cared about but only ended up hurting them more. He felt ashamed.

Master Yen Sid then approached with a grim expression.

"We must prepare ourselves. Vanitas will return. Do not let your emotions get in your way. We must still capture him. When he arrives we must all be ready to bring him in."

Aqua and Terra nodded determinedly. They would not let Vanitas Hurt Sora anymore. They were sure of that.

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Axel laughed as he drove the large gummy shuttle. It was massive and he was having a blast trying to maneuver it through space, diving between asteroids and stars.

Roxas and Xion lounged around as they kept Sora in their hearts. All determine to save him.

Kairi smiled to them. "Hey Ms.Frizzle, are you enjoying flying this magic school bus full of kids?" She laughed and Axel shook his head at her joke.

"Yes actually I am. I should chauffeur you guys around more often! This is pretty fun." Axel grinned and slapped the steering wheel.

Kairi smiled and looked up to the stars and sighed.

Axel noticed her expression start to turn a little sad and he grinned to her. "We're gunna find him you know, Sora? With friends like us, he's sure to be okay. Like you said, it's our turn to fight for him now. Right Kai?" He winked at her and she then smiled again. Axel was always so kind to her.

Xion spoke up then with a giggle. "All of us, Together! 'Team work, makes the dream work!' Right?" She smiled, remembering her moment with Sora. Her heart shined thinking about him. He always knew the right things to say.

Kairi smiled too, thinking about her own thoughts about Sora's dreams.

"You're right. We can make the dream work. We will fight for him, together." Kairi looked back out into the stars.

She knew in her heart things would turn out. But that didn't mean she didn't worry.

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They landed the ship down in Radiant Garden. It was raining, which was unusual for this time of year, but the group pressed on, determined to find their friend. They all walked up to Ansem's Research lab silently. They stepped through the front door only to be greeted by Dilan and Aeleus, who looked ready to stop them.

Roxas and Xion then stepped up ready to fight.

"You guys go on ahead, let us deal with them!" Roxas called and he summoned his keyblade, Oathkeeper into his hand. Xion summoned her keyblade, Oblivion into her own hands and then stood ready to fight for Sora.

The rest of the group ran further into the lab, deeper into the bowels.

The had reached a room with Evan and Ienzo working over vials and test tubes.

Riku immediately held his keyblade, Braveheart, up. "Where is Sora?"

They looked nervous and pointed to down the hall. Vanitas and Riku instantly started running down it, and Kairi and Axel found the perfect moment to speak to the scientists.

Kairi went up to Ienzo with a frown. "You experimented on a little girl with Ansem the Wise. What did you do with her?!" She yelled and held her keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, up threateningly, ready to pry the answers from them both if she needed too.

Ienzo frowned. "We.. experimented on many children. I'm not sure who you are referring too."

Kairi gasped. "How many??"

Evan spoke up with a smirk. "Dozens. We needed to learn the intricacies of the heart and what better hearts to test then the hearts of children? Children who have not been yet soiled by the evilness of the world. Children with pure hearts. Their dreams are pure. Their hearts held answers. If you want to find the girl your looking for, you can certainly go through my records of the time. I keep orderly notes of all my experiments."

Axel looked confused. "You're just going to let us look?"

Evan laughed. "I only care about my research. I have finished that avenue and no longer require that data. You may have it."

He and Ienzo then were able to slink away as Kairi and Axel dove into Evans records of the children.

Axel then held up a page with a little girl on it and gasped when he recognized her.

"Kairi..." he said and she looked up.

"Did you find her?" She reached over to read the paper. Her eyes searched the text and widened on a picture in the top right corner.

It was of Kairi. She looked no older than 4, with her opal necklace shining bright around her neck. She clutched the paper tightly.

She had been one of those children?

Axel then breathed. "It was you. You were the girl I wanted to save." He let the realization wash over him.

Kairi then looked at him again, realizing too. "I was? After... all this time..."

She smiled and a small laugh out. "That means that you did find me Axel. What was lost, was found, but you just didn't know. It was right with you the whole time..." She couldn't believe it, Axel had looking for her the whole time. She felt sad then thinking she was the reason for Axel's time in the organization.

Axel wrapped his arms around her suddenly, feeling happy. "I knew I would find you one day, I just never knew how. But you ended up finding me instead! Kairi..." he smiled at her and felt tears start to form.

Kairi frowned softly and wiped his eyes. "Don't cry Axel! it's okay, We found each other!"

She kissed his cheek then, right where his old tear marks would have been when he was a nobody, and he smiled hugging her close.

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Riku and Vanitas rushed further into the bowels of the lab. They got lost in a turn though and found them selves at a fork in the halls.

Riku looked around. "Which way?" He asked and Vanitas felt frustrated. He didn't remember the way, he had only ran in panic before.

Suddenly Ventus rushed over to them. "Riku! Vanitas!"

They looked at him in shock. "You made it! Do you know where Sora is?" Riku asked.

Ventus nodded "Namine is going there now! We need to hurry!" The three then fled down the hall.

When they had reached a new room, they stopped seeing Terra and Aqua waiting for them. Vanitas looked at them in anger.

"It's all your fault! You hurt Sora! You tried to take him away!" Vanitas growled and summoned his keyblade, Voidgear and held it up angrily.

Terra and Aqua summoned their blades in response ready to fight.

Ventus huffed and summoned his keyblade, Wayward Wind, and held it up, standing side by side with Vanitas against his closest friends, Terra and Aqua.

Oh how the tables have turned after so many years. Who knew they would be fighting each other like this.

"Go on ahead Riku, we will handle them!" Ventus said and motioned for him to run.

Vanitas nodded and smirked. "Me and my Brother will deal with them. Go get our Better Third Riku." He laughed and held his keyblade high and then grinned at Terra and Aqua, ready to fight them down for what they had done.

Riku nodded and ran deep into the lab to the final chambers.

Vanitas instantly was on Aqua, wanting revenge for what she did to Riku earlier, and Ventus fought with Terra, hurt that his friends would do this.

They clashed in a violent battle, trying to disarm each other. Ventus and Vanitas working side by side for the common goal of saving their friend.

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Riku rushed to the final chamber and felt his heart start to ache as he got closer. He knew Sora was in there.

He burst through the door and was met with Mickeys surprised gasp.

"Riku!" He said and instantly started to back away seeing Riku's keyblade in his hand.

Riku instantly looked and saw Sora, lying on a table. He started to go to him, but then Mickey held his keyblade, the Kingdom Key D, and stood in between them.

Riku swallowed. "Mickey..."

He clenched his fist and held his keyblade up. He wouldn't let Mickey stand in his way now.

Before they could fight, Namine then rushed into the room, with two figures following close behind.

"Riku!" She cries and Mickey and Riku both looked up.

It was Donald and Goofy. Naminé had found them and had explained everything to them. It took a long time for them to fully accept it, but they believed in Sora and if Sora felt Vanitas was good then they knew he must be right. They would Fight for Sora, every minute until the could not fight any more. He was in their hearts just as they were in his. That's what friends do.

"Your Majesty, I'm going to have to ask you to step away from them now." Goofy spoke and held up his shield.

Donald held up his mage staff. "We don't want any more fighting. Sora wouldn't want that!"

Mickey looked at them with sad eyes and sighed feeling defeated.

"You're right, no more fighting."

Ventus and Vanitas then ran through the door in panic. They stopped when seeing the commotion.

Donald and Goofy instantly recognized the boy who looked like Sora to be Vanitas and nodded to him as he came in.

Vanitas looked at them and saw that they were not going to fight him, but rather looked ready to fight for Sora. More of Sora's friends. More people to help. Naminé had brought them and he smiled. He always knew Namine was his favorite.

They all looked to Mickey determinedly.

Mickey just moved away but watched Vanitas with worry.

Instantly Riku and Vanitas rushed to Sora's bedside.

He was cold and looked lifeless on the table. He was still in the flowing gown, as the scientists could not figure out a way to cut it off of his body.

Vanitas felt his heart throb in pain. Sora was hurting, and there wasn't anything he could do! He grabbed for Sora's hand and held it to his face.

Riku grabbed Sora's other hand and held it tightly. He felt incredible anguish in him then and felt his resolve break. He started to cry, and tears fell from his green eyes. He leaned over Sora and pleaded with fate.

"Please no! Sora! Take my heart! I can't loose you again!" Riku cried and his tears fell onto Sora's skin.

Vanitas also could not help but let his emotions go. He held Sora's hand tightly and felt his own tears fall. He had not let himself cry for many years, and suddenly it was like a waterfall. He sobbed desperately for his broken heart to be mended. "Sora no... please open you eyes, you gotta wake up now... please come back to us." he leaned down and kissed Sora's forehead and Vanitas watched as his tears fell onto Sora's skin. He shut his eyes then and continued to cry.

Sora was gone. They didn't want to believe. This couldn't be real. They were supposed to be happy together. Not sad and torn apart.

Everyone had managed to gather in the room silently then. Everyone with tears streaming their cheeks.

All with their hearts full of Sora.

Riku and Vanitas continued to cry over Sora's lifeless form. Their tears mingling on Sora's chest, right above his heart. Their dream of being with Sora and being happy was shattered now like glass.

Unrepairable.

Two tears though, intertwined together and seeped into his skin, shaped like a heart as the water droplets merged. It evaporated into his skin.

And then it started to glow.

Like a fairy tale or a magic spell, the tears of true love can show the way. Light the path for your destiny.

They believed in their dream, and believing would make it come true.

Sora slowly opened his eyes and felt the world return to him. He squeezed his hands lightly feeling pressure in them.

Vanitas and Riku both looked up at him in shock.

"Sora??"

Everyone looked up at that.

Sora just looked at them and smiled before tears started to fall from his eyes.

"You came for me.. you both did.." he said weakly, and the two both nodded above him.

Riku choked and smiled. "Of course Sora. We love you."

Vanitas grinned feeling elated. "You think I was gunna leave you? After all we've been through? I went and got Riku right away and knew we would both save you Sora."

Sora then tried to sit up, and Riku and Vanitas were instantly trying to help him.

Sora smiled and held a hand to his heart. "My Dream did come true then. I dreamed about you both, and I thought I would never see you again. But I kept on dreaming of you. Because I could not bare to loose you." Sora looked between them then. His two closest friends and partners. His loves.

They both hugged him then and Sora sobbed happily.

The rest of the group suddenly ran up too all crying for a Sora. He smiled seeing all his friends again.

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It was the Eighth day since Sora's return. And all was well again. The new trio found themself back in Destiny Islands, now that their adventure had ended, a new one began.

Donald and Goofy smiled to Sora and was happy for him and his new partners. Kairi and Axel started hanging out more frequently, just enjoying each other's company. Roxas finally asked out Xion, who said yes. Ventus and Namine smiled as they held each other's hand. Terra and Aqua watched on with sad smiles, after talking and agreeing to stop hunting Vanitas. They had seen the error in their ways. They saw now Vanitas was capable of love. Mickey watched them all with a smile, having since apologized to Vanitas and Sora. They agreed to forgive him, because in the end, everyone only tried to do what they thought was right.

All was happy for the group. They watched happily and Sora Vanitas and Riku all sat on the winding trunk of the green paopu fruit tree.

Kairi threw a paopu at Sora then, who caught it with a gasp. He looked at it and Kairi smiled at him before walking away.

Sora smiled and broke the fruit apart into equal pieces and ended up sharing small bits of the fruit with each one of his friends. Everyone got to share their hearts with Sora that day. And everyone could feel him in their hearts. He had returned from the Darkest Depths and managed to come out on the other side. All because of them. All of his friends had helped in their own ways.

Team work really did make their dream work in the end.

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Epilogue ~ Extra Naughty bits.

It was Sora's idea at first. They didn't think it would work, but Sora has said he read that if they prepared enough it could work.

Sora wanted to try to take them both at once, wanting to be connected to both his loves at the same time, he had read that with the proper preparation, it could be done.

So one night when the three were in bed, he suggested it to them with a blush. The other two both looked at him with wide eyes having never imagined doing that.

Sora showed them images from the book he had read in embarrassment, but wanted to try it. Vanitas and Riku read the pages carefully with blushes of their own, but they both admitted they would be up for trying it. As long as it did not hurt Sora.

They spent their time pampering Sora with soft touches and wet kisses and Sora relaxed back into his bed as his lovers touched him. He moaned when they stared to prepare him , lovingly rubbing his body as he accepted the stretch of his muscles.

Once they thought he was ready, Vanitas moved in front and pressed himself inside and moved up so Riku could push in under him. Vanitas moaned as Riku slid in next to him and held his back to Riku's warm chest. They both leaned over Sora blissfully as he took them both inside himself.

Sora mewled happily from under them, positively loving feeling of both his loves inside him. He knew this was a great idea. They just had to be careful. And he knew they would be gentle with him. Sora's heart warmed as they all thrusted together.

Sora reached up and grabbed one of each of their hands as they climbed up to the precipice of their pleasure. Sora was moaning their names, and felt his heart soar in his chest. He clutched their hands tightly, and cried out with them as they all fell over the peak of their pleasure.

They all laid together on their sides, Sora squished happily between them. They nuzzled him and kissed him softly. Each getting a second with him before kissing each other. Sora had to admit he liked watching Vanitas and Riku kiss and it made his heart leap when he thought about all of them together.

They lazily kissed as they all fell asleep, happy in their hearts as they all dreamed.

Fluffy little black meow wows meeting with regular ones finally in the lands of their dreams. They frolicked and played and Sora smiled in his sleep as he snuggled deeper into his nest with his True Loves. Forever happy and forever dreaming.

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**A dream is a wish your heart makes** **When you're fast asleep** **In dreams you will lose your heartaches** **Whatever you wish for, you keep**

**Have faith in your dreams and someday****Your rainbow will come smiling through** **No matter how your heart is grieving** **If you keep on believing** **The dream that you wish will come true**

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End


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